First-time buyer costs have jumped by two thirds since 1970s

The cost of buying a first-time property outright has increased from £154,000 in 1974 to £254,000 now, according to the Resolution Foundation. Millennials born in the 1980s have got the “rawest deal”, enduring rapid house price rises and tighter credit conditions, despite lower interest rates helping to ease mortgage borrowing costs, the think tank said. A typical UK first-time buyer in 1974 would have paid £90,000 in net interest by the end of their mortgage, compared to £63,000 for a first-time buyer now, the research found. In London, a typical first-time buyer now faces spending £500,000-plus over the course of the lifetime of a mortgage to purchase their first home – two-and-a-half times as much as in 1974. An equivalent buyer in the North East of England will incur a cost of £150,000 – around 9% more than the typical first-time buyer in that region in 1974. These variations make it potentially harder for young people today to move from one area to another, the report said. 

Daily Express (25/06/2021)   The Independent (25/06/2021)   The Times (25/06/2021)