First Time Buyers sceptical that politicians will improve their chances

Fewer than half (46%) of potential first-time buyers believe this week’s General Election will improve their buying prospects, despite manifesto pledges.

Labour plans to extend the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme and build 1.5m homes over the next parliament, while the Conservatives hope to eliminate stamp duty up to £425,000 and introduce a new Help to Buy scheme alongside its own pledge to build 1.6m homes.

And some 73% of prospective first-time buyers think the government and the mortgage industry needs to be more creative in introducing new incentives and legislation to help people buy.

The survey was conducted by Aldermore and the lenders director of mortgages - Jon Cooper - says: “One point that most politicians can agree on is that homeownership has become an increasingly challenging goal for the majority of hopeful buyers. As voters (and particularly young people) head to the polls, homeownership will be front-of-mind.
 
“Hopefully this election will reenergise the conversation on how we can help more people onto the property ladder and show more first time buyers that this goal is still possible.”
 
However in a separate survey a third of people think Labour is the party best placed to support first-time buyers.

The Moneybox saving and investing app’s latest study of 1,000 aspiring home-owners across the UK found that 28% of respondents admitted they don’t trust any political party to help them purchase a home of their own, and only 8% believe the Conservatives have their back. The Liberal Democrats and Green Party saw only 4% and 3% FTB support respectively.

Meanwhile, it showed that two-thirds (66%) of aspiring FTBs have reevaluated their homeownership goals in the past six months, with half (51%) now planning to buy at a later date.

The average FTB has been saving for two years and 10 months and expects to be able to buy their first home in four years and six months, an increase from four years and two months in 2023.

Cash savings have remained the most popular way FTBs save for a deposit, usually via a combination of easy access savings accounts (42%), Cash ISAs (29%), and the Lifetime ISA (22%).

However, affordable homeownership schemes have actually become less popular in the last six months with the number considering the First Homes Scheme or Rent-to-buy/Rent-to-own falling over the year from 31% to 22%, and 26% to 20% respectively. Only 9% said they were considering the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme.

Moneybox head of personal finance Brian Byrnes says: “Manifesto pledges from political parties have fallen short of providing much-needed reassurance and tangible financial support to FTBs who have been navigating significant challenges over the last few years.”

“With house price growth significantly outpacing wage growth in recent decades, the solutions needed to sustainably boost homeownership without further inflating house prices are complex and will take some time to bear fruit.