Go North for best chance to get on the ladder
Monday, 26 September 2011 1:18 PM
Where you live can make up to nine years’ difference to the age you can get on the housing ladder, according to new research from the Halifax bank.
Selby in North Yorkshire came out top in the study of areas in Britain with the average first-time buyer aged 25. That compares with 34 in London boroughs like Harrow, Barnet, Kingston and Ealing and Three Rivers in Essex.
Next earliest on the ladder, with first-time buyers averaging 26, were in Redcar and Cleveland, Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, Bolsover in Derbyshire and Ribble in Lancashire.
The only two non-Northern districts to make it into the top 10 were Swale in Kent and Bridgend in South Wales.
The average age of a first-time buyer across the UK is now 29, but lenders say 84 per cent of those under 30 get help from their family.
Nitesh Patel, housing economist at the Halifax, said: “There are several areas in the country where the average age of first-time buyers is three to four years below the national average of 29. Most are in northern England where house prices are typically lower both in absolute terms and in relation to earnings, helping to limit the size of the deposit needed.”
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