First time buyers share their experiences on new website

Around 17% of people between the age of 16 and 34 turned to friends and family to seek advice on buying their first house in comparison to just 13% who turned to a bank or building society, according to research from Abbey.

In recognition of the role that friends and family are playing in the decision making process of first-time buyers, Abbey has launched thewordonyourstreet.co.uk, a place where first time buyers can hear first hand from people like them, who have just been through the home buying process.

Nici Audhlam Gardiner, Product Executive for Mortgages at Abbey, said: “Buying a house for the first time is both exciting and daunting. This website community helps demystify house buying - with advice and help from those who’ve done it before, or who are going through the process.

“By sharing experiences, people can better understand how they can go about buying a house, and flag potential pitfalls.

“‘Our research shows that people are increasingly going online to research buying their home. Through setting up this community we are creating an invaluable reference for first time buyers.”

The site allows users to enter their details and search for people with similar circumstances to themselves. This allows them to see the kind of mortgage they chose and why, the type of home they bought for the money and any pitfalls they experienced along the way.

While on the site, users are invited to return once they’ve completed their own house buying process to share their story and any useful tips that they may have discovered.

As well as building a bank of personal experiences, the site also aims to demystify the buying process with short video clips of people on the street explaining the main types of mortgage in everyday, jargon free language.