Good news for getting on homes ladder (From York Press)

Good news for getting on homes ladder

9:23am Wednesday 28th September 2011

FIRST-TIME home buyers in Selby are the youngest in the country, a new study has shown.

The average age of a first-time buyer in the area is 25, four years younger than the national average, three years younger than the regional average, and nine years younger than Harrow, in London – one of the areas with the oldest first-time buyers in the UK.

The report showed the areas with the youngest first-time buyers were also areas where house prices were low. Seven of the ten areas with the youngest buyers had an average house price four times the average annual earnings of first-time buyers.

With an average house price of £114,113, a house in Selby costs 2.9 times local average earnings.

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, said: “Compared to the national average, this figure is encouraging, probably because of the value of homes in and around Selby are less than the comparatively more expensive areas of York and parts of Leeds, which it is easy to commute to from the Selby area.

“In Britain we have a home-owning mentality, compared to other European countries, with young people in their mid twenties looking to put down roots and get on the housing ladder, and this is encouraging.

“What I hope to see as Selby defines its planning policy is more opportunities for shared ownership and bringing more people onto the property ladder. But actually not everyone wants to own their own property, and we need to make sure homes are also affordable for people to rent.”

The figures were released as part of a study by Halifax, which also found that the average age of first-time buyers in York was 29, and the average in Scarborough and Harrogate was 28.