Nationwide has issued a warning to people under the age of 40 who don’t own a house. The UK’s largest building society has warned the house prices crisis means one in five can’t buy first home until age 40 in a Cost of Living crisis.
One in five in the UK faces buying their first home far later than previous generations have been able to.. 20 per cent will be left without their own first home into their forties, a rise on the current average first-time buyer age (33).
Nearly half of first-time buyers say their prospects of owning a home are further away than ever due to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, research from Nationwide has found. The research came in a poll of 1,000 aspiring homeowners.
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It found that more than eight in ten (84 per cent) say that the Cost of Living crisis has impacted their plans, with 49 per cent having delayed them due to affordability concerns. Six in 10 are postponing their homeownership plans by up to three years.
Rachael Sinclair, Nationwide’s director of mortgages and financial wellbeing, said: “Getting that first home is as challenging as it ever has been. We need to solve the first-time buyer conundrum, which is why Nationwide has continually called for the government to set up an independent review of the first-time buyer market.
“It’s why we’ll also be jointly launching a Housing White Paper with the Building Societies Association next week, which will outline the essential policy changes that are needed to tackle the homeownership crisis and support people into their first home.”
According to the poll, the average amount people said they had to put towards the deposit was £9,533 – far short of the £22,400 needed for a 10 per cent deposit based on the £223,554 average first-time buyer house price, according to Nationwide’s House Price Index.
