The survey asked what they believe is the single greatest barrier to saving for a deposit on their house – with rent prices, the cost of living and a lack of well-paid employment opportunities taking the top spots.
The study, conducted by Tiles Direct, revealed that 38% of Brits – and over half of 25-34 year-olds – believe rent is too high to save for a deposit on a house.
The cost of living came in second, with 21% of respondents declaring this the biggest barrier for first-time buyers – as salaries become more and more thinly stretched.
According to 18% of those surveyed, a lack of well-paid job prospects is to blame – with over a fifth of women considering this their greatest hurdle on the path to homeownership.
Generation Rent
Across the board, inflated rent prices were held responsible for the first time buyer’s struggle to save for a deposit – as the average cost of renting in London has reached almost £1500, according to recent data from HomeLet.
In spite of the capital’s spiralling rent prices, just 31% of Londoners considered this the greatest block to buying a house – versus a huge 59% of people living in the North East.
As UK house prices continue to outstrip average salaries, the Chief Executive of housing and homelessness charity Shelter, Campbell Robb, predicts that “Generation Rent will be forced to resign themselves to a life in expensive, unstable private renting”.
The Y factor
While rent and living costs took the lion’s share of the vote, some respondents felt that Generation Y were the architects of their own downfall – with 6% blaming the irresponsible spending habits of first-time buyers.
With 9% of the vote, a lack of motivation to save money was also cited as a serious barrier to buying a home – and 18% of 55-64 year-olds consider this the root cause.
Surprisingly, 17% of 18-24 year-olds also took this stance – citing an inability to save (10%) and reckless spending (7%) as two of the primary roadblocks.
15% of over-65s held the poor interest rates offered by banks accountable for our inability to scrape together a deposit, as the financial incentive to keep money in the bank hits rock bottom.
Other responses included Britain’s acute housing shortage, escalating house prices and a domination of the UK property market by rental accommodation – highlighting the perfect storm of socioeconomic factors affecting first-time buyers nationwide.
Topline results
In your opinion, what is the single biggest barrier blocking first-time buyers from saving for a deposit on a house?
• Rent is too high to save for a deposit: 38.0%
• Higher cost of living: 21.0%
• Lack of well-paid employment opportunities: 18.2%
• Lack of motivation to save money: 8.8%
• Irresponsible spending amongst Generation Y: 6.4%
• Poor interest rates on savings accounts: 6.0%
• Other: 1.6%
