When it comes to buying your first house (opens in new tab), the horror stories of sky-high London prices and nightmare neighbourhoods can be off-putting.
Finding the right area at the right cost can be a major concern when you're preparing to fly the nest, but Furniture Choice (opens in new tab) has made it easy with their ranking of the top 20 locations in the UK for first-time buyers.
Lancashire ranks highly, with three of its towns – Pendle, Burnley and Hyndburn – topping the list, while County Durham, Stoke-on-Trent and Hull also feature.
Furniture Choice quizzed first-time buyers on the most important factors they considered when choosing where to buy and used the answers to create a ranking system based on four metrics:
- Average house price for first-time buyers
- The percentage difference in cost for first properties and subsequent properties
- Average salary
- Unemployment rate
Based on the average cost for first time buyers, the most affordable locations were selected, before being scored across the categories.
Pendle, which took first place on the list, has an average first house price of only £84,769, and prices increase by 27% for subsequent houses.
Just 4.6% of residents are unemployed in the Lancashire town, and the average gross salary is £25,944.
Looking at average house price alone, Burnley has the lowest, with first properties costing around £71,698.
Rossendale, meanwhile, sees first-time residents paying £109,471 for their home.
Commenting on the research, Tom Obbard at Furniture Choice said: “Affordability is a big factor when it comes to buying your first home, but it isn’t the only thing to consider.
"Our research shows that prospective homeowners also look at factors such as the job market, and whether they will stay in one area in the future.
“There’s enough for first time buyers to look at without needing to research these considerations, so we hope our ranking system will help new buyers sift out the top areas they should be looking in.”
For more information on the top 20 towns for first time buyers, visit Furniture Choice (opens in new tab).
