First-time buyer couple's troubles: year's income for deposit

If you are a first-time buyer couple and are on a low income, then you will know that it takes a years worth of your take-home pay to save enough money for a deposit, this is according to a recent survey.

If you are a couple in the bottom quarter of earning, then you will need at least £27,738 for your deposit and fees, this is according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

However; according to the institution, getting on the ladder is now more affordable than ever thanks to a decline in how much a house is worth however: the credit crunch has now cancelled that out as it is now more difficult to climb on to the first rung of the ladder.

Senior economist David Stubbs has said Access to the housing market has deteriorated as the credit crunch has taken hold of the mortgage lender sector.” He also added “With mortgage approvals declining, the picture does not look like improving in the latter part of 2008 and first-time buyers will find their path to home ownership increasingly blocked.”

Mr. Stubbs did add that those who are able to find more deposit to put down on a house will then benefit from lower mortgage repayments each month, talk about state the obvious.

Source