Saving up for a house deposit is the bugbear of many first time buyers around the country.
Whether you received an inheritance or are saving up from scratch, watching the money mount up can be incredibly satisfying – or horribly stressful, if it's not happening fast enough.
So, are you a good saver or not? Believe it or not, how much you save could depend in part on where in the country you live, and not just your spending habits, good or bad. MyJobQuote.co.uk has released the results of a survey on how much we, as a nation, have managed to save over three years. And the results are surprising.
Categorised by region, the results show that the North East saves the most, with a whopping £9,875 average racked up by an aspiring homeowner.
At the other end of the scale, the West Midlands trails behind with a measly £1,357 saved on average by first-time buyers.
From most to least, this is how much each region saves on average:
- North East - £9,875
- Scotland - £8,327
- Yorkshire - £7,939
- Northern Ireland - £6,875
- South West - £6,328
- Wales - £5,374
- London - £5,106
- North West - £3,879
- East Midlands - £3,506
- East of England - £2,485
- South East - £1,560
- West Midlands - £1,357
The results are wildly variable, but they could be explained in part by the help some will receive by the bank of mum and dad: 64% of respondents are planning to top up their deposit pot with help from friends and relatives. Of those, a whopping 51% are turning to their parents, 29% to their grandparents and 16% to other family members.
Guilty of dipping into your savings when funds are low? You're not alone. 54% of those surveyed confessed that they'd taken money from their deposit savings to pay for other things – whether repair-related emergencies, holidays, and even nights out.
Lisa Evans, spokesperson for MyJobQuote, says, 'It’s not easy to put money aside. Although house prices tend to be more expensive in the south, and in London in particular, this isn’t reflected in the amount that first time buyers are able to save; meaning their journey will be both longer and slower than someone looking to purchase in the north.'
