London property prices: Data reveals 29-year average to save for home in capital

Single Londoners can expect to save more 29 years before being able to put down a 20 per cent deposit on a home

Single Londoners will have to save for almost thirty years before accruing enough to purchase a home in the capital, according to figures released by Shelter.

On average a single working person living in London will have to save for 29 years before being in a position to put down a deposit in the UK’s capital.

The report, A Home of Their Own, was commissioned by Shelter and examined three types of household: a childless couple working fulltime, a couple with one child (one parent working full time and the other part-time), and a single adult working fulltime.

Shelter commissioned Liverpool Economics to give projections for how long it would take the three buyers – all estimated in their twenties - to save up a 20 per cent deposit.

In more than 70 per cent of counties and unitary authorities across England it will take couples with a child more than a decade, and in a third of these counties more than 15 years.

In London it would take couples with just the one child 25 years and eight months (on average) to save for the deposit on their first home.

Working couples without children, earning a combined salary of £53,384, would be able to save enough in 13.5 years.

Outside London the situation is less bleak. In the North West the average time taken to save for a deposit for single working individuals is roughly 9.8 years.

The calculations took into account regional variations in prices and assumed that those attempting to get onto the property ladder had no prior savings.

Shelter’s chief executive Campbell Robb told The Guardian: “Homeownership used to be within most people’s reach, but the rising shortage of affordable homes has pushed house prices up so high that for millions of young people it’s now just a fantasy, however how hard they work or save.”

The news comes as London house prices continue to increase, despite appearing to tail off at the end of last year.

A survey by property website Rightmove found property asking prices had grown 0.9 in the first month. Although sluggish, the growth compares well to the beginning of last year, which saw an increase of just 0.2.