One in five Brits think you need to be earning £70k to buy a one bed flat in London

New survey shows

A survey of 2000 Brits by national housebuilder, Bellway Homes, revealed that one in five believe that in order to own a one-bedroom apartment in London you need to be earning £70,000 or more.

The developer, launching its new Property Perceptions Survey also found that many think the average monthly outgoings for a £300,000 property would be £3,554. At a time when interest rates are set to rise while salaries are not increasing, house prices seem out of reach for many. According to recent data by Acadata the average house price in the UK is £301,447, with London prices considerable higher, up to £589,553.

Other interesting stats this survey reveals include:

• 1.4 Million Brits were 40 when they purchased their first home, despite many believing they would be 32.
• 54 per cent of Brits have no one to help them with a deposit
• More than 7m Brits do not see themselves owning a house and over 3m only see themselves being able to afford a one-bedroom apartment
• 45 per cent of 16-24-year olds think the Government should be doing more to help them get on the property ladder
• 48 per cent of Brits are more likely to queue up for a home than to meet their favourite celebrity or to purchase new technology
• 87 per cent of young people will not give up avocados on toast in order to save for a deposit

Emma Denton, Sales Director Designate at Bellway Thames Gateway comments: “This survey reveals that first-time buyers especially worry about raising money in order to fund deposits to buy a property. It is surprising that many think you need a salary in excess of £70,000 in order to purchase a home when with Help to Buy you can in fact get a mortgage in London with a joint salary for £39,500, depending on certain circumstance. While it can be difficult for some people to buy a property of their own, with the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, more young people are seeing they are able to get on the property ladder for the first time. We’ve have helped nearly 200 first-time buyers get on the ladder with our annual Help to Buy Event’s so far.”

A selection of Bellway sites across London and Essex will be available to purchase off-plan, at Bellway’s third Help to Buy event that is being held at The Grange St Paul’s Hotel in London on Thursday 15^th March from 12pm to 8pm.

Terry Higgins, Managing Director of New Homes Mortgages added: “The Governments Help to Buy Shared Equity scheme makes purchasing a new build property really affordable and with as low as a 5 per cent deposit you can still access some of the lowest rates in the market.”

Since its launch in 2013 the Government-backed Help to Buy scheme has seen over 350,000 completions with over 300,000 first-time buyers now owing a new home. The Bellway Help to Buy events have so far helped more than 200 families onto the ladder in only two days.  London Help to Buy schemes allows buyers to purchase with as little as a 5 per cent deposit on a newly built home and the Government will then provide an equity loan of up to 40 per cent of the property purchase price, which is interest for the first five years.