The majority of 18 to 34-year-olds still want to own their own home but one in four are unaware of government schemes to help them on to the property ladder, according to the Home Builders Federation.
A report from the HBF – Why buy new? Home Buyers intentions and opinions – found financial worries are the main concerns of would-be first-time buyers, with 73% citing the difficulty of savings and 69% blaming property prices.
The poll of more than 2,000 people found just over half (53%) also cited the difficulty of getting a mortgage.
Despite the concerns, one in four 18 to 34-year-olds were totally unaware of any government support available to them, such as the Help to Buy equity loan scheme, which provides backing for a 5% deposit mortgage on a new-build home, and the Help to Buy Isa aimed at helping young people save for a deposit.
The research was published to coincide with this week’s New Homes Week 2016, an industry-backed initiative aimed at addressing some of the misconceptions about new-build homes.
A third of respondents polled by the HBF said they have never visited a new-build or a show home with a further 18% saying they hadn’t for at least ten years.
Stewart Baseley, HBF executive chairman, said: “In the midst of a housing crisis, the prospect of getting on to the property ladder can seem like a distant possibility to many people. But there are options available to today’s young people. Due to Government schemes buying a new build home is a real possibility for people.
“New-build homes have so many great benefits, from the high build quality and brand new fixtures and fittings, to the low running costs and added bonus of a ten-year warranty. But the real benefit for many first-time buyers is the affordability of the whole process.”
Comments (2)
New-build = high build quality? Not always, going by some of my clients’ properties. As for the 10 year warranty, the last of my clients to attempt that route gave up after several months and just paid for the remedial works herself. And watch out for those kitchen integrated appliances… Some only last a few years and can be very expensive to repair/replace. Worth checking they’ve been fitted correctly as well – recently we had a tenant report a broken down integrated microwave oven. Turned out it had been installed without the required ventilation space and that this was the likely reason for the breakdown. It had to be replaced in the end and this was not possible without reconstructing part of the kitchen units as there was no longer a microwave oven made that would fit in the rather small space provided.
I think it goes to show how distanced the younger generations are from homeownership nowadays – they don’t even know what is available to them because it is so out of reach.
Perhaps these findings are shedding light on the future of the UK’s homeownership rates – a lot of people are no longer interested/in touch and maybe renting is just seen as the norm going forward.
Landlords will be delighted! The government, not so much.