Single FTBs 'need 10 and a half years to save for a deposit'

This is slightly down on the 11 years recorded in Q1 2017 and reflects slower house price growth and a rise in incomes.

The average single first-time buyer who started saving in Q1 2018 would not be able to purchase a home until the autumn of 2028.

Sharing rent and every day household costs such as food and bills means that a couple can save faster – under half the time of a single first-time buyer. In Q1 2018 the average couple buying for the first time would need to save for five years - unchanged from 2016.

This means that the average first-time buyer couple who started saving in Q1 2018 could set up home by the spring of 2023.

For a single first-time buyer it would take three years and nine months to save up for a 5% deposit (table 2). This is over six and a half years faster than saving up for a 15% deposit.

Aneisha Beveridge, Analyst, Hamptons International said:

“Saving a deposit is still the biggest barrier to buying a first home. It takes a single person more than a decade to save up in the current climate. But the additional support from Help to Buy brings down the time it takes to raise a deposit by over six years for a single first-time buyer.

“Slower house price growth in the capital has meant that it’s now six months quicker for a couple, who share household spending, to save up for a 15% deposit in London. But it still takes a couple in London eight years to save up, twice as long as someone buying a home in the North.”