A new Which? analysis of Land Registry data shows how prospective buyers in more expensive parts of Great Britain face an uphill struggle to save a big enough deposit.
Read on to learn about how much you'll need to put down to get on the property ladder in your area.
How much do you need to save for a house deposit?
But how much this is in real terms varies dramatically depending on the area you're hoping to buy a home in.
We analysed the latest Land Registry figures on the average price paid by first-time buyers in every local authority in Great Britain.
The cheapest areas to buy a home
The cheapest areas for first-time buyers are all in the north of England or Scotland.
Burnley in Lancashire has the lowest average first-time buyer price, with less than £5,000 required for a 5% house deposit.
This huge figure, and the £828,000 recorded in the City of Westminster, can likely be put down to a small sample size of first-time buyers.
However, prices across London are out of reach for most, with many boroughs having average first-time buyer prices of more than £500,000.
Outside of London, there are five local authority areas where first-time buyers need a deposit of at least £20,000 to buy a home.
Average first-time buyer prices in your area
The interactive map below shows how much money you might need to put down to buy your first home in your area.
When you hover your cursor over an area on the map, you'll see three figures. These are as follows:
How do earnings impact my mortgage chances?
The above figures give an indication of how much you might need for a deposit, but whether you'll be able to get a mortgage depends on other factors too, most notably your salary.
For example, let's take the average price of £436,000 in St Albans. If you put down a 5% deposit of £22,000, you'll need to get a mortgage for the remaining £414,000.
At a time of high mortgage rates, affordability requirements are locking some borrowers out of getting a home loan. This means that some prospective first-time buyers will need to save bigger deposits, increase their earnings, or buy in a cheaper area.
Find out more:The benefits of saving a 10% deposit
While a 5% deposit is the minimum you usually need to be eligible for a mortgage, it's preferable to put down more than this if you can afford to.
On a two-year fixed-rate mortgage, the cheapest 95% deal currently available is priced at 5.66%.
If you can save a 10% deposit, however, you can get a 90% mortgage with a rate of 5.19%, which could potentially save you hundreds of pounds a year in interest.
Find out more:Use our mortgage deposit calculator
Our mortgage deposit calculator uses localised house price data from across the UK to help you work out how much deposit you need to buy a home in your desired area.
When you enter your savings plans, we'll also tell you how long it will take to build up that crucial deposit. House prices are based on Land Registry data from January 2024.
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source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/first-time-buyers-how-much-do-you-need-for-a-house-deposit-in-your-area-adojN1b0PIsy