A nation of renters spending over £80k

02/06/2011

 

A nation of renters spending over £80k
As the UK becomes a nation of renters , a new survey has shown that the average spend for someone renting property before buying is £81,300 spread over 16 years – again the average time it now takes for someone to buy their first property.
Typically, London heads the list in terms of location with first time buyers in the capital sometimes spending £308,500 on rent in their lifetime. When you consider that the average spent on buying property in London is £257,250, renters are paying around 20% more. The average spend for those first time buyers receiving parental support before purchasing their first home will still hit over £36,000 according to the study made by the website Find a Property.
 The regional variation between north and south is also substantial with those in the south of the country spending more and over a greater period of time than those in the north, who can always expect to outlay less in rental costs and will have to spend less time saving for a deposit.
‘Adding up the amount people typically spend on rent in a lifetime is a real eye opener. But the reality is that, because of the lack of lending from banks to first time buyers, there’s a growing number of people who will have to rent for an extended period of time,’ said Samantha Baden, property analyst for FindaProperty.
‘This is probably most keenly felt in the capital, where higher rental and housing costs, as much as triple those in the north, mean that more and more people are coming round to the idea of being a lifetime renter. In fact many of these people are choosing to focus on the upside of renting, appreciating the greater freedom that comes with not being tied to a mortgage for years to come and having a landlord pay for maintenance,’ she added.
The study also found that today’s new and young first time buyers are now more dependent than ever before on support, typically from parents, in order to gain access to the property ladder. Between 2006 and 2009, the number of assisted first time buyers increased by around 1% to 80,700, while the number of people buying their first home without financial assistance plummeted 83% to just 20,200.

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