A decade to save a deposit but affordability improves

First-time buyers who don't have access to the Bank of Mum and Dad will take a decade to save for a deposit.

But the news is positive because new research from Hamptons International suggests affordability has now improved for FTBs.

The estate agents have revealed that a single FTB in England and Wales will need 10 years and three months to put together the cash for a 15 percent deposit.

However, this is actually six months less than the average time estimated to save for a deposit in 2016.

And eight out of 10 regions in England and Wales have seen a fall in the amount of time it takes a FTB to save for their deposit. For example, it's now nine months quicker to save for a deposit in the east of England, east Midlands and Wales than in the final quarter of 2016.

However, reflecting the much higher property prices in London, a single FTB in the capital will take 15 years and nine months to save for a 15 percent deposit.

Aneisha Beveridge is the head of research at Hamptons International. She said: "Saving adeposit is still the biggest barrier to buying a home, but things did improve in 2018.

"Slowing house price growth, which is expected to continue, combined with rising wages meant that last year it was six months quicker to save for a home than it was two years earlier."