ONS House Price Index Comment from Owen Woodley, Post Office

Owen Woodley, Chief Executive, Financial Services at Post Office, comments on the ONS House Price Index issued today (18th April 2018):

“The continued slowdown of house price growth across the UK in general masks significant regional differences when it comes to pricing, for example where growth remains above 2% in areas such as West Midlands (2.2%) and the North East (3.1%). First-time buyers who can be flexible on location and are looking to make a savvy investment with the intention of trading up, can still find affordable hidden gems.

“Those looking to buy in an area that has not seen stagnating house price growth can still benefit from stamp duty initiatives and lower interest rates. Mortgage providers including Post Office are innovating to deliver mortgages that help address the deposit deficit – which is still the biggest barrier for 43% of FTBs.*”

* Opinium conducted a survey amongst 1,009 millennials and 1,021 of their parents between the 5 and 10 of October 2017. Opinium also looked at data from the ONS to ascertain what the deposits required by first time buyers are, what the incomes of young working couples are, and what level of financial wealth their parents have. Using findings from the consumer research we were able to calculate how much millennials in 16 of the UK’s cities are able to save towards their deposit, and to what extent they can be helped by their parents.

Kindly shared by the Post Office