‘Up-and-coming’ locations for first-time buyers revealed

Hull, Middlesbrough, Falkirk and Blackburn are on a list of “up-and-coming” locations where aspiring first-time buyers could look to start their journey on the property ladder.

Halifax, which compiled the list, said survey findings indicate that around six in 10 (61%) young adults who have not bought a home would be prepared to move to a different part of the country to get on the housing ladder.

Almost half (44%) of potential first-time buyers looking to get on the housing ladder are now researching locations they would not have considered before the cost-of-living crisis, the bank found.

Two-fifths (40%) said they are exploring more affordable, up-and-coming areas to move to.

However, a similar proportion (41%) believe that the location of their first home is more important than the property itself.

Higher mortgage rates mean four in 10 (41%) aspiring home-buyers have pushed back their plans, by four years on average.

More than half (55%) would reassess the type of property they are willing to buy.

Censuswide surveyed 3,000 18 to 34-year-olds across the UK in August who have not bought a property.

Halifax also carried out analysis to identify locations with lower average house purchase prices compared with the surrounding region, to work out potential hotspots for first-time buyers looking for an up-and-coming location.

As well as house prices, the bank also took into account survey findings about first-time buyers’ priorities, including links to major cities, access to good schools, proximity to green spaces and local regeneration, when compiling its list.

Kim Kinnaird, mortgages director at Halifax, said: “Despite fluctuating house prices, the desire to buy a first home isn’t going away, with almost nine in 10 young people keen to get on the property ladder.

“There’s an appetite from under-35s to consider more affordable areas further afield, so we’ve identified up-and-coming locations that prospective first-time buyers might do well to look into.”

Here is a shortlist of up-and-coming local authority areas for first-time buyers, according to Halifax, with the average first-time buyer purchase price, followed by the percentage difference between that and the average price in the wider location. House prices and other factors such as local amenities were taken into account when compiling the list. Halifax said it has not ranked the locations from one to 10 as there is a range of priorities that individual buyers will want to consider when choosing a location:

– Kingston upon Hull, North East England, £156,509, minus 23%

– Middlesbrough, North East England, £156,761, minus 11%

– Neath Port Talbot, Wales, £158,702, minus 20%

– Derry City and Strabane, Northern Ireland, £160,636, minus 8%

– Falkirk, Scotland, £165,511, minus 12%

– Blackburn with Darwen, North West England, £168,895, minus 21%

– Aberdeen City, Scotland, £173,061, minus 8%

– Telford and Wrekin, Midlands, £213,741, minus 10%

– Ipswich, Eastern England, £249,338, minus 25%

– Eastbourne, South East England, £253,744, minus 29%