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First-time buyers commute further to cut costs

Monday, 1 October 2007 12:00 AM

First-time buyers are being forced to commute further than they would expect as high property prices force them out of cities, according to research released by Abbey today.

The average first-time buyer would be willing to travel 43 minutes to get to work from a new property.

However, the RAC places the average commute in the UK at 45 minutes.

Yet, some more hardy buyers are willing to make the sacrifice.

As many as 15 per cent of those questioned said they were willing to travel for an hour to get to work each morning.

A further seven per cent would subject themselves to a commute of an hour and a half, and a final two per cent would willingly make a two hour journey.

First-time buyers in London - where average house prices are the highest in the country - were the most willing to travel.

Three times as many people in the capital said they would be willing to commute for an hour and a half compared to the national average.

Those in north were the least keen travel, willing to commute an average of only 39 minutes to work each day.

"The current level of prices inside Britain's major towns and cities mean more and more first time buyers are finding that they have to buy further than they'd like from their workplace," commented Abbey director of mortgages, Sue Hayes.

"Even so, our research shows that many first-time buyers are still not fully aware of how far they might have to commute each day in order to get onto the housing ladder."

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