First time buyers: ‘need home, will travel’

First time buyers priced out of major conurbations are being forced to commute for longer than they’d like in order to get on the housing ladder, according to research from Abbey mortgages.

Across the UK on average, the maximum journey time that new buyers are prepared to take to their workplace is 43 minutes. However, their expectations may be distorted as the RAC states that the average commute across the whole working population is 45 minutes.

Some first time buyers are prepared to travel further. 15 per cent would travel up to one hour each way, seven per cent would subject themselves to a 1 hour 30 minute commute and two per cent would travel a gruelling two hours to work.

London and the surrounding areas – with its high level of house prices – unsurprisingly is the place where first time buyers are prepared to travel for the longest time. Three times as many Londoners would travel 1 hour 30 minutes than the national average.

Even so, first time buyers looking in and around London may need to travel further than they would like to. The average a first time buyer wants to travel to work in London is just 52 minutes each way, but at only ten minutes more than the rest of the UK, this could be unlikely.

The time people would be prepared to spend communting are different across the country. First time buyers in Scotland said they would travel no longer than 45 minutes, followed by southerners (excluding London) with 43 minutes, and Midlands and Wales both with 41 minutes. Northerners are least prepared to commute with a maximum of 39 minutes.

Sue Hayes, Abbey Director of Mortgages, commented: “The current level of prices inside Britain’s major towns and cities mean more and more first time buyers are finding that they have to buy further than they’d like from their workplace. Even so, our research shows that many first time buyers are still not fully aware of how far they might have to commute each day in order to get onto the housing ladder.

“Because of the challenges they face, at Abbey, we are continuing to do all we can to help this segment of the market. We have a range of mortgage deals built specifically for first time buyers, and some of the deals include help with the upfront costs such as free legals and free valuations. Ultimately, we believe that first time buyers deserve to take that first step and get the home they want in a place they want to live.”

For more information, log on to abbey.com/loans.