Business

First-time buyers hit by UK house price hikes

First-time buyers now make up more than half the market in their highest numbers for a decade, but rising prices are keeping them reliant on help from Mum and Dad.

Data from Halifax revealed this year's first-time property buyers are getting hit by a 21 per cent hike in house prices over the last ten years, with the average price in the UK rising from £172,659 to £208,741.

This is more than double the price increase faced by other types of buyers over the same period, with the average asking price for properties suitable for first-time buyers often outperforming the UK housing market.

London has been the worst offender, with prices on first-time properties soaring 48 per cent since 2008 to an average of £419,608. Additionally, deposits have risen three-fold over that time to hit an all-time high of £114,952, 27 per cent of the average purchase price.

Read more: Affordability gap deepens as London prices push away first-time buyers

The UK's capital was followed by properties in the South East of England which have risen 37 per cent to £275,632, and East Anglia raking in a 30 per cent increase to £210,639.

Respectively, prices in the North and Wales have only risen a maximum of nine per cent over the last ten years, and in Northern Ireland prices have actually decreased by 33 per cent to reach the lowest average in the UK at £124,035.

The news comes as it was revealed in ONS figures earlier this month that first-time buyers are now heavily reliant on the Bank of Mum and Dad to buy their first house, with more than a third receiving financial help from parents either as a gift or a loan.

Read more: First-time home buyers struggle much more than mum and dad did

"First-time buyers are having to dig deeper than ever to get onto the property ladder," said Halifax managing director Russell Galley.

"With the average price now over £200,000 and deposits at £33,000 its not surprising that the average age of a first-time buyer has crept up to 31."

In London, that number rises to the age of 33, the oldest in the UK.

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