Couple saved £16k in 18 months to buy £159K house at 22 – by moving in with parents
A YOUNG couple from Nottingham have bought their first home for £159,000 aged 22 - but they had to move in with their parents while they saved.
Jonjo Taylor-Sharpe, 22, and his girlfriend Kimberly Aucott, 23, managed to build up a deposit of £16,000 over the past 18 months while they have been living with Jonjo’s mum Gina – and now they are just waiting to collect the keys to their very own home.
Jonjo and Kimberly have managed to buy their first property almost a decade earlier than the current average first time buyer age of 30.
Kimberly, a social worker, moved into Jonjo’s family home after she finished her course at Lancaster University.
After living 140 miles apart while Kimberly studied, the couple knew they wanted to buy a property together and realised they would be able to save far more each month this way.
Jonjo, 23, says: "Renting has always seemed like dead money to me. My mum has been great and only asked us for around £400 a month towards the bills so we have been able to save up to £800 a month each while we have been living with her."
It's estimated that more than one in five people saving for a house deposit for the first time are living with mum and dad.
Around a quarter of savers say they may have to stay at home for five years or more to build up a big enough deposit to get a foot on the property ladder.
Staying at home often means aspiring housebuyers can save more each month than if they are paying rent to a landlord.
The couple, who have been dating for five years, are not the only ones eager to move in to their first home.
Some 25,200 first-time buyers completed their first property purchase in February, according to trade body UK Finance, with the average first-timer typically taking on a mortgage of £155,904 – up 4.7 per cent from a year ago.
What help is out there for first-time buyers?
GETTING on the property ladder can feel like a grim task but there are schemes out there to help first-time buyers own their own home.
Help to Buy ISA - It's a tax-free savings account where for every £200 you save, the government will add an extra £50. But there's a maximum limit of £3,000 which is paid to your solicitor when you move.
Help to Buy equity loan - The government will lend you up to 20 per cent of the home's value - or 40 per cent in London - after you've put down a five per cent deposit. The loan is on top of a normal mortgage but it can only be used to buy a new build property.
Lifetime ISA - Another government scheme that gives anyone aged 18 and 39 the chance to save tax-free and get a bonus of up to £32,000 towards your first home. You can save up to £4,000 a year and the government will add 25 per cent on top.
Shared ownership - Co-owning with a housing association means you can buy a part of the property and pay rent on the remaining amount. You can buy anything from 25 to 75 per cent of the property but you're restricted to specific ones.
"First dibs" in London - London Mayor Sadiq Khan is working on a scheme that will restrict sales of all new-build homes in the capital up to £350,000 to UK buyers for three months before any overseas marketing can take place.
Starter Home Initiative - A government scheme that will see 200,000 new-build homes in England to be sold to first-time buyers with a 20 per cent discount by 2020. To receive updates on the progress of these homes you can register your interest .
The couple, who first met at school, set money aside into a Barclays savings account – the interest rate on the account was low but they quickly set about building up as big a nest egg as they could.
House hunting was easier than expected – they viewed five properties near their home town of Loughborough and ended up picking the first one they had seen.
Jonjo, a technician, says: "When we saw the first house it was perfect. We viewed more afterwards to make sure but they just didn’t compare. The people we’re buying from have lived there 18 years so it’s been decorated nicely."
The couple paid £159,000 for the house outside Nottingham, around 25 miles away from Jonjo’s mum and just a short drive to their workplaces in Derby. They hope to move in within a couple of months.
Jonjo and Kimberly have put down a 10 per cent deposit on the property and chosen a three-year fixed rate mortgage with Nationwide with an interest rate of 2.49 per cent.
Their repayments will be around £600 a month over the 27-year term of the mortgage.
According to figures from the Mortgage Advice Bureau, some 99 per cent of first-time buyers opt for a fixed rate on their mortgage.
These deals mean you know exactly how much your monthly repayments will be for a set period, even if the Bank of England’s base rate of interest increases, providing valuable peace of mind at an expensive time.
Jonjo says: "I think my mum will be sad to see us go but we are so excited to get the keys and have been buying things for the house already – the spare room is full!"
LATEST ON HOUSE PRICES
Moving home with mum and dad might be a necessity now that first time buyers will have to fork out nearly £50,000 for a deposit on a mortgage if they want to own their first home.
One London lad bought a £135,000 three-bed house with his girlfriend at just 18 - but he made one big sacrifice.
While banks are starting to offer alternatives, such as "no deposit" mortgages to customers in order to help them get on the property ladder.
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