First-time buyers still need a £50k deposit

The crawl towards easier mortgage lending means first-time buyers are more likely to be able to buy than at any time since the credit crunch hit, according to a new report


But the average deposit needed remains above £50,000, locking many potential new homeowners out of the market,
The average asking price of first-time buyer properties on the property listing website has stayed broadly stable at about £155,000 over the past year, while the gap between what a new buyer could borrow and the deposit they need to raise has narrowed.
The report measures the so-called affordability gap – the sum first-time buyers need to find once they have raised the maximum mortgage based on their household income in order to buy the average first-time buyer home.
This has narrowed from £70,300 in December 2008 to £51,700 in March, however, 50% of those surveyed by the report said raising a deposit was their biggest barrier to home ownership.
  Robin Cottrill of Firsttimebuyersupermarket.co.uk said: 'This month, however, with lenders being more generous and property prices largely stable, the effective deposit is a bit smaller, making it easier for first-time buyers than since the start of the credit crunch.

We have a Deposit Matching Scheme, the First Time Buyer finds 10% and we will match it to a  Maximum of another 10%

'The cloud on the horizon is that prices are starting to show signs of upward pressure which could make homes more expensive over the coming months, if there remains a shortage of stock. More properties are coming onto the market, but there are still 12% fewer entry-level homes available than a year ago.'


http://firsttimebuyersupermarket.co.uk/