How Much Does The Average First-Time Buyer Home Cost? Plus More

In this month's edition, we reveal how much it costs to buy your first home in 2018, the government have given communities more power over how their neighbourhood develops, the affordability of mortgages has reached a ten year peak and we reveal how your kids would change your home.

Communities To Have More Input In The Planning Of Their Neighbourhood

 

 

New government funding has been introduced to several communities throughout the country to give people the opportunity to have some input towards the development of their local area.

&23 million will be provided to help communities gain access to the expert advice from planning professionals along with guidance and financial support that will allow them to shape their neighbourhood.

This fund will give people a say on the location and design of many aspects of their local area such as homes, businesses and schools, helping develop the vision for their area.

Already off to a strong start, over 2,300 communities in England have begun the process of neighbourhood planning and 530 plans have already been approved in local referendums.

Previous similar Government support schemes have seen success, as 365 neighbourhood plans were finalised, meaning approximately 70% of communities saw progress due to Government support.

Originally the maximum grant that was available to communities was &15,000, however, the latest fund has increased this to &17,000, giving them more access to resources that will further help the progress of the plans for their area.

Housing Minister Dominic Raab spoke on the recent announcement for the &23 million fund, highlighting the importance of communities having input in their area and that they have the support that is needed to do so.

Raab said; “Neighbourhood plans are a powerful tool to help communities shape their local area, making sure the right homes are built in the right places.

“It’s vital that communities have the right support and advice available to help deliver a plan that meets their own ambitious aspirations. That’s why I’m making &23M available that will help more groups to do this.”

How Much Does The Average First-Time Buyer Home Cost?

 

 

It looks like now is a great time to be taking your first step onto the property ladder as new reports have revealed a sharp rise in the number of first-time buyers taking advantage of the support available to them.

It seems that the abolishment of stamp duty coupled with Help to Buy schemes has had quite the effect on the UK property market as many are reporting a surge in activity from young prospective owners.

UK Finance has reported that 2017 saw 365,000 buyers purchase their first home, a considerable increase of 7.4% on the previous year and the largest recorded amount of first-time buyers since 2007/08, pre-financial crisis.

Earlier reports this year from Savills revealed that approximately 40,000 first time buyers had decided to take advantage of the potential &5,000 savings since the scrapping of stamp duty.

So how much does the average home cost for a first-time buyer?

According to the latest statistics provided by Halifax and analysed by sellhousefast.uk, the cost of the average home in England and Wales for a first-time buyer is &200,166, &212,079 for the UK.

The cheapest area in the UK to purchase a home for the first time appears to be the North East with an average price tag of &126,437.

In second place with a slightly higher average value is the region of Wales, where first-time buyers can expect to pay &139,875. Similar property prices can be found in Yorkshire and the Humber with homes valued at &139,970.

House prices seem to increase as you move further south, with the South West and the South East breaking the &200,000 mark, with homes costing &205,333 and &207,103 respectively.

As expected the area with the highest prices for first-time buyers was Greater London, boasting average values of &422,580, more than three times the amount of the North East.

While some of these prices may seem staggering to prospective owners, the recent figures showing the rise in first-time buyers suggest that it is possible to get on the ladder.

It is clear the recent schemes and support from the government have helped give the upcoming generation a bit of leg-up and many are clearly taking advantage of this period of low mortgage rates.

 

10 Year Peak For Mortgage Affordability In The UK

 

 

New research has found that mortgage payments account for less than a third of a homeowner’s disposable income, with mortgages reaching their most affordable level since 2007.

The recent research from Halifax has shown that during the fourth quarter of 2017, the average mortgage payments in the UK accounted for 29% of the owner’s disposable income.

When the same statistic was recorded in 2007, monthly mortgage payments took up 48% of disposable income, meaning there has been a 40% fall in mortgage affordability levels for home buyers since the peak seen in 2007.

According to Halifax, record low mortgage rates are responsible for the improving affordability levels as average rates dropped from 2.09% to 1.98% across last year.

With house prices rising recently by an average of 3%, affordability was still improving at the tail end of 2017.

Just under 75% of all the districts included in the study recorded an improvement in affordability of at least 15% over the last 10 years and 35 districts saw mortgage payments fall by at least 30% over the same period.

As a result of considerable the fall in house prices, Northern Ireland was the region that saw the greatest improvements in affordability, currently standing 44% lower than 2007.

Within the UK, the North West and Scotland had the most areas in the list of top 10 most affordable places to live and the South East and London dominated the other end of the table.

The research found that is was Brent and Haringey that were the least affordable places to live with mortgage payments taking up 61% of disposable income on average, which is quite the difference in contrast to the area of Copeland in Cumbria where only 15% of disposable incoming is used for paying a mortgage.

Mortgage Director at Halifax, Andy Bickers, commented on their findings, saying that whether you’re a first-time buyer or already a homeowner, these latest statistics are good news “This is a real boost for both those who already have a mortgage and those preparing to take their first step on to the property ladder. Improved mortgage affordability has been a key factor supporting housing demand and helping to stimulate the modest recovery that we are currently seeing.”

"In recent months we have seen the number of first-time buyers and homemovers purchasing a home with a mortgage bounce back towards 2007 levels, and mortgage payments becoming a much smaller proportion of disposable income across most of the country will also support a healthy market with more choice and opportunity for buyers/borrowers.”

Revealed: Kid's Top Ten Dream House Features

 

 

At some point or another we have all thought about our dream home and while most of us would be happy with a spacious detached 5-bedroom home with a large back garden, it appears from a recent survey that we’re just not being creative enough.

A new survey carried out by home developer, strata, questioned over 2,000 children between the ages of 3 and 11 and found out their most desired features for their home, resulting in some fantastical answers.

So where do all the kids want to live? Well, it depends on who you ask.

The consensus amongst the girls was that the best place to live would be a fairy-tale style castle at the top of a hill and surrounded by the ocean. As for the boys, it appears that the popular choice was a multi-coloured LEGO block tree house, which would be a wonderful sight but terrible to walk around in.

Many of the participants were of the opinion that walls made of chocolate was the best option from an interior design perspective and water slides instead of stairs, making it a bit of a chore getting upstairs but going down should be fun.

Free time is clearly a valuable commodity to the young demographic, as instead of having a home that featured the perfect office to allow them to get productive, the kids would prefer a magic room that completes homework for them.

For the flooring, although they had the options of luxurious carpet or hardwood floor with underfloor heating, the clear choice was trampoline floors, allowing the owners to jump and bounce from one room to the next.

When quizzed on their kitchen needs, the common choice was a sweet shop/ice cream parlour instead granite countertops, as their dietary requirements appear to be sugar and more sugar.

Property developers may want to keep in this mind when planning new homes for future generations. If you’re a landlord then it could be worth considering installing water slide and chocolate wall over the next 10 years if you really want to beat the competition.

Top 10 dream features for kids
1. Magic homework room that does the work for you
2. Waterslide staircase so you never have to walk
3. Dinosaur park with its very own scientist
4. Trampoline floors to bounce from room-to-room
5. House robot
6. Sausage-llama as a pet
7. Christmas market all year round
8. Petting zoo where David Attenborough works
9. Shark tank
10. Twelve toilets so no-one ever has to queue