It’s Harder Than Ever to Get onto the Property Ladder

There’s a lot of facts and figures out there about the UK housing shortage and the difficulties young people are suffering when attempting to get onto the property ladder. So, South Wales-based Howells Solicitors decided to pull together a load of these facts and figures to ask, is it harder to buy a house in 2017?

In short, the answer is… yes!

Here’s what their analysis of government data found:

• The average property costs more than ever before
• House price values and average earnings have not grown reflectively
• Mortgage applications are fewer than in the past
• First time buyers are getting older

Analysing the UK Property Market

From the English Housing Survey to the Office for National Statistics’ report on Housing and Home Ownership in the UK, Howells analysed a number of data sources in its report ‘Historic House Prices: Research Shows Your Parents Definitely Had it Easier’ and there was a stand-out statistic.

According to the Office for National Statistics and the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), median gross weekly earnings have grown from £268.90 to £438.60. However, buying a first home is still the least affordable in more than two decades.

In 1997 the average prospective buyer could expect to pay 3.6 times their earnings on purchasing a home. Last year, that had risen to 7.6 times for the average person. That’s more than double!

Tristan Lewis, Business Development Manager at Howells Solicitors, has commented on these findings stating:

“With property prices considerably higher than twenty years ago, we have become familiar with the requirements of first time buyers for an affordable conveyancing service during these demanding times. However, the comparison of these values against income data has reiterated this further. 

To combat these issues, Howells offers a fixed fee conveyancing service with no hidden extras and a no sale, no fee policy. We pride ourselves on making moving home as straight-forward as possible and look forward to helping even more people purchase their first home.”