An interesting new investigation has found that would-be first-time homeowners in Brighton are worse of than those in London.
According to a report from HouseSimple, a resident in the South-Coast city would need to save for over 104 years to reach the figure needed for a deposit, based on current average salaries and property prices.
Costly
The average cost of a home in Brighton currently stands at £350,522, with the annual salary in the area £23,488. With the size of loan needed and with savers typically putting 10% of their income away for a deposit, it would take more than a century to purchase a home in the region..
Londoners do not fare much better, with the survey suggesting it would take 97 years to afford a home in the capital. Both of these calculations give a snapshot at the wider picture, with first-time buyers becoming more and more priced out of getting onto the ladder.
Wannabe-buyers in other cities are also feeling the strain. In Bristol, Cardiff and Edinburgh, it would take 55, 49 and 41 years respectively to save the required deposit.
Affordability issues
HouseSimple Chief Executive, Alex Gosling, suggests that, ‘affordability remains a major problem across the UK.’ He said that, ‘everyone knows that London is unaffordable for all but the rich or fortunate, but these figures highlight the plight of the average person looking to buy an average priced property in their local town or city.’[1]
‘The average wage earner is being priced out of their local property market and without a serious influx of new properties coming onto the market, that’s likely to continue to remain the case,’ Gosling continued.[1]
Hull came out on top as the best place to buy. It takes just 6 years to save for a deposit in the city, which was the shortest period of any of the 20 major towns and cities in the UK.
[1] http://www.cityam.com/226917/uk-and-london-house-prices-how-long-does-it-take-to-save-a-deposit-for-a-property-104-years-for-people-in-brighton