First-time buyer needs to save 17 years for London deposit

The average single first-time buyer needs to save for 17 years to raise a 15% deposit for their first home in London, according to research.

This means someone starting saving now could expect to buy their first house in 2035, estate agent Hamptons International said.

Unsurprisingly, it takes less time for a single person to save for a deposit once data from the rest of the country is taken into consideration. To get on to the property ladder a single person can expect to save for 10 and a half years.

Although the time taken to save for a deposit has fallen from the 11 years recorded in the first three months of 2017, the average single saver would be able to buy a house in the autumn of 2028.

Couples can cut the time in half to save for a deposit as they are sharing rent and everyday household costs such as food and bills.

The report also looked at how long it takes for people to save a 5% deposit for the government's Help to Buy schemes.

It found that for a single first-time buyer, it would take three years and nine months to save up for a 5% deposit - over six years faster than saving up for a 15% deposit.

A couple saving for a 5% deposit on their first home could typically expect to do so in one year and nine months.

Aneisha Beveridge, an analyst at Hamptons International, said: "Saving a deposit is still the biggest barrier to buying a first home.

"It takes a single person more than a decade to save up in the current climate. But the additional support from Help to Buy brings down the time it takes to raise a deposit by over six years for a single first-time buyer.

"Slower house price growth in the capital has meant that it's now six months quicker for a couple, who share household spending, to save up for a 15% deposit in London. But it still takes a couple in London eight years to save up, twice as long as someone buying a home in the North."

The fastest place to save for a 15% deposit is in the North East, where it takes a couple just under three years and a single person six years and three months.

Hamptons' research used Office for National Statistics (ONS) earnings figures for people aged in their 20s and assumed that a household could save 22% of their income towards a deposit after regular bills were taken into account.