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FTBs willing to sacrifice alcohol and holidays to get on first rung

5th February 2007 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

The pleasures of boozy nights and holidays, sometimes at the same time, go out of the window for many first time buyers trying to get on to the property ladder, claims new research.

A report by Abbey found that slightly more than half of first-time buyers are willing to give up holidays as they attempt to cobble enough money together to pay the mortgage.

Meanwhile, 49 per cent would give up alcohol to fund their first home.

The figures are evidence of the difficulty that many first time buyers have in affording a home and an indication of the importance that Brits place upon owning their own property rather than renting.

Moving back in with the parents was a viable option for just 21 per cent of those canvassed, although nine per cent said they would be prepared to end their relationship or stop dating in a bid to save enough money for a house.

It is little wonder that so many first time buyers are having to sacrifice pleasurable activities to buy a house when one considers that the average first time buyer property in the UK cost £153,906 in November, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

This figure is 8.8 per cent up on the previous year.

Furthermore, data from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) show that the average couple would have to save 81.8 per cent of their annual take home pay to afford the average £32,784 in deposit and stamp duty required on a first time property.

Nici Audhlam Gardiner, the head of mortgages at Abbey, commented: "With first time buyers struggling to get onto the first rung of the property ladder, prospective homeowners are having to make big sacrifices to build their finances."

She warned that such measures could prove a long-term test for many prospective buyers.

"However with a typical first-time buyer taking as long as five years to save up a five per cent deposit, people would need an iron will to sacrifice anything they enjoy for that long."

While many Britons seem prepared to give up things they love in the name of getting their own place, the figures are open to wild regional fluctuations.

Just 12 per cent of potential first-time buyers in the north-east would be prepared to give up alcohol and only seven per cent of Scots would countenance moving back in with their parents.

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