First-time buyers spend more than planned on home

September 20, 2017 by Brendan O'Neill

First-time buyers

According to a recent survey, first-time buyers spend around £44,240 more on their first home than they had intended.

The research, by property website Zoopla, found that the actual cost of buying a home was being underestimated by an average of 25%. Although first-time buyers expected to spend £167,359 on their first property on average, they actually spent £211,599.

The biggest gap between estimated and real costs was in London, where first-time buyers were underestimating the actual cost of buying a home by 40%. The lowest difference between expected costs and the reality was in the Midlands, where first-time buyers faced a bill 8% higher than their estimation. A Zoopla spokesperson said that buying a home could be daunting for first-time buyers, who have minimal knowledge of the property market and the true costs of house purchase.

Mortgage advisors gain knowledge when they attend CeMAP courses before becoming professionally qualified, and may be the best option for advice for first-time buyers. The spokesperson for Zoopla added that first-time buyers should budget for all the costs associated with buying a home, and not to be tempted to spend more on ‘what you want’ in preference to ‘what you need’.

The survey, which questioned 1,000 people, also found that UK first-time buyers tended to underestimate how much time it would take to save for a deposit on a home. The average time to save is 26 months, which is four months more than expected.