2013: the year of the cautious borrower
March 31, 2014Research by My Home Move has found that despite the resurgence of the housing market in 2013, it was a year belonging to the cautious borrower.
As the UK’s largest provider of mover conveyancing services, My Home Move is in the unique position to see what people actually paid for their properties, compared to their advertised price. Last year it helped over 38,000 people to buy, sell or remortgage their homes.
Based on My Home Move’s data, the average UK home buyer took out a mortgage loan of around 72% of the value of the property in 2013; while the best savers were the Welsh, who saved an average deposit of 31.72%. Those buying in London and the North West borrowed the most from the banks; with an average mortgage loan of 73.63%.
| Average % Deposit: | Average % Mortgage |
| UK Average – 27.68% | UK Average – 72.32% |
| Wales – 31.72% | Greater London – 73.63% |
| South West – 29.41% | North West – 73.63% |
| South East – 28.85% | West Midlands – 73.01% |
| North East – 27.57% | East Midlands – 72.34% |
| East Midlands – 27.32% | North East – 72.18% |
Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move, said, “Despite the launch of Help to Buy and new high LTV products from many lenders, it seems that last year people were still cautious regarding the amount they wanted to borrow. There was also a level of caution applied by lenders to higher LTV products.From our own data we can see that the Welsh were the most conservative, borrowing just over 68% of the value of their properties, while it’s probably no great surprise that buyers in London borrowed the most.”
“However I think it will be the next twelve months that will really show how strongly consumer confidence has returned; and whether people are collectively ready to take on the levels of debt needed for 95% mortgages, indeed, the market has already seen strong growth in Help to Buy demand and new build properties and we expect this to continue especially following the Chancellor’s extension to the scheme.”