The latest First Time Buyer Opinion Barometer from Your Move and Reeds Rains asked first-time buyers about the requirements that they consider to be ‘vital’ in a first home. Only 49% of first-timers cited natural light as essential. Just 54% said a garden as mandatory, and 55% a car parking space.
With the average price of a first-time buyer home now £143,767, just 7% of first-time buyers said an ensuite bathroom was an essential requirement to a first-home; while 14% said a garage was mandatory, and just a third (30%) viewed having a dining room as vital. Staggeringly, 11% of first-time buyers said a kitchen wasn’t vital in a new home.
Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, comments:
“First-time buyers are willing to sacrifice space and comfort in their quest to buy a first home. But this shouldn’t be such an arduous task – these findings should send a warning flare out to our politicians that many first-timers are tripping up along the path to homeownership, despite much improved access to finance.
“There is only a finite stock of housing on the market, and unfortunately, first-time buyers are the least prepared in the current scramble for property. The lion’s share of new housing policy has been stoking demand, rather than supplementing supply, with the Help to Buy ISA the latest in a host of flagship first-timer policies. But building initiatives remain largely untouched, leaving enormous potential to revise and improve housing policy.
“Of course, there is a flipside. Such strong buyer demand means now is a fantastic time for sellers to put property on the market, with affordable properties likely to be snapped up quickly.”
In their bi-monthly survey, Your Move and Reeds Rains asked first-time buyers what policies they would accept to encourage more housebuilding. Four in ten first-timers (41%) would accept legislation to prevent land banking, and over a third (37%) think it should be easier to convert existing buildings to residential use.
One in seven (14%) first-timers believe more pre-fabricated ‘kit’ houses should be used to build new houses rapidly, while 11% would accept converting high streets to residential property, and a tenth would happily build over golf courses. A twelfth (8%) of first-timers say that the greenbelt boundaries should be adjusted, 8% believe building height restrictions in city centres should be removed, and 8% think the size of new-builds should be limited, in order to build more smaller homes on the same available plots.
Adrian Gill explains:
“The housing crisis cannot be conquered by timid tweaking of the system – radical action is required.
“Recalibrating the way we use land will form firm foundations for more affordable housing. Potential policy changes could include legislation against land banking and in doing so making it easier for landowners to build on their land banks by easing planning restrictions. Building on green spaces in urban centres is another option, and – at the more controversial end of the spectrum – adapting the green belt boundaries. Supporting smaller builders will also play a part, to encourage more quality first-timer homes, in the locations that we need them.”
There were 21,000 first-time buyer completions in February 2015, 10.5% more than 19,000 in January but 5.8% lower than 22,300 twelve months ago.
Meanwhile, the average purchase price of first-time buyer properties was £143,767 in February, 0.8% higher than a year ago. First-time buyer deposits averaged £25,080 in February, 1.5% higher than £24,721 a year before, despite additional support for higher LTV borrowers in the form of Help to Buy.
However, borrowers with deposits worth 15% or less of their property’s value accounted for the largest portion of house purchase lending in five months in February.
Adrian Gill comments:
“First-time buyers came back to the market in force in February, and mortgage lending data suggests this revival will carry through into the next few months. Wages are recovering, just as inflation has fallen to zero for the first time in decades, helped by cut-price fuel costs. Many buyers are feeling richer as a result, and they are looking to take advantage of cheap mortgage rates now, before prices have the chance to climb higher.”
