New data released by Barclays reveals that first-time buyer numbers have doubled over the last year, whilst the price of a starter home has dropped by £10k. This accounts for a 98% increase in people taking that first step onto the property ladder in 2021.
The average property price in 2021 was £281,900, down from £294,500 in 2020, 13% higher than average pre-pandemic prices.
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Barclay’s own Information Plus Consumer Research generated the research which is good news for first-time buyers although the same research also revealed that those who did manage to progress to property ownership had done so through either much hard saving or with help from family.
The average age of completion was 32, after around 8 years of hard saving, although 56% revealed that they wouldn’t have been able to buy a house if it had not been for the help of family.
Those who are not yet on the property ladder show a high level of despondency and fear that they will never get the opportunity to own a house in today’s economic climate.
Claire Macphail, mortgage expert at Barclays, which provides the Family Springboard mortgage allowing family or friends to support the home purchase, said: “It’s encouraging to see that first-time buyers have been able to get onto the property ladder in increasing numbers since the start of the pandemic.
“However, despite numbers nearly doubling across the last year, it’s worrying to hear that many still believe that they’ll never be able to afford their first property.”
She added: “Our index points to the importance of first-time buyers being supported by family so it’s essential for lenders to innovate to provide new ways in which first-time buyers can get a head start.”
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