Newcastle is the Best Place for First-Time Buyers

Newcastle is the most affordable city for first-time buyers to purchase a home, mortgage lender Mojo has revealed.

Homes are priced at just £1,650 per square metre in Newcastle, making it cheaper for residential property than anywhere else in the UK. The average mortgage payment in Newcastle is just 29.05% of a buyer’s income.

Aberdeen, where the price per square meter is £2,250 and average mortgage payments eat up 29.57% of average incomes, was the second most affordable spot.

Belfast, Stoke-on-Trent and Hull are also good bets for people looking to get on the property ladder.

Unsurprisingly, homes in London were the most unattainable. Buyers need to earn 45% more than the average monthly net salary, to afford property, which sells for an average of £13,068.95 per square meter.

But you might be surprised by some of the other least affordable areas for first-time buyers. Starter homes are also out of reach for many in Derby, Northampton and Liverpool, where the price per square metre is relatively high and the average salary is relatively low.

Richard Hayes, chief executive and co-founder of Mojo Mortgages, said: “Getting on the property ladder as a first-time buyer is notoriously difficult, unless you happen to have a few grand stashed away in your savings account or can ask the Bank of Mum and Dad to help with the deposit.

“Our first-time buyer index gives potential homebuyers the chance to see where they could buy, and what’s affordable for them in some of the most popular towns and cities in the UK.”