Halifax have said that first time buyers are taking out longer mortgages and are paying bigger deposits than any other demographic on the market.
A quarter of first time buyers throughout 2015 apparently took out mortgages which will last for 35 years.
The average cost of a home bought by a first time buyer increased by 10 per cent throughout 2015, reaching £190,180.
In 2007, when the housing market was still strong before the financial crash, Halifax report that 16 per cent of first time buyers were opting for mortgages above the traditional 25 year mark. In 2015, that number reportedly raised up to 26 per cent.
It is worrying that first time buyers are having to take out mortgages for such a huge portion of their lives. It means that they will not be able to be free of payments until well into their 50s and even 60s. This, coupled with the fact that lenders are largely unwilling to lend to people past the age of retirement means that there is little wiggle room for arrears or remortgaging.
On the plus side, it would seem that the market isn’t as desolate for first time buyers as it seemed, but borrowers are having to take bigger risks to compensate for the banks being more reserved with their lending policies.
