Bradford revealed as cheapest city for first-time buyers
A typical first home in the city is just over ÂŁ104,000
Last updated 1st Jun 2023
Bradford's been identified as Britain's cheapest city to get on the property ladder, while London has been named as the most expensive location.
Property website Rightmove has looked at average asking prices for typical first-time buyer-type homes, with a maximum of two bedrooms, in 60 major urban locations across Britain to make the findings.
The research made several assumptions, including that first-time buyers had a 10% deposit and would be paying back their mortgage over 25 years.
The average asking price for a typical first-time-buyer-type property in Bradford is ÂŁ104,643, which could potentially lead to monthly mortgage payments of around ÂŁ521, Rightmove said.
Carlisle in Cumbria was identified as the second cheapest city to be a first-time buyer, with an average monthly mortgage payment of ÂŁ522.
Excluding London, St Albans in Hertfordshire was named as the priciest city to get on the property ladder, with average monthly mortgage payments calculated at ÂŁ1,958.
The leafy cathedral city is popular with families and commuters, with train links into London.
Within London, the average monthly mortgage payment for a first-time buyer was put at ÂŁ2,533.
Rightmove said its findings suggest paying a monthly first-time buyer mortgage with a 10% deposit is cheaper than renting in around half of the cities it looked.
This rises to two-thirds of cities if buyers are able to raise a bigger deposit, at 15% of the purchase price.
Rightmove's findings also indicated that first-time buyers in Glasgow could potentially make the biggest monthly savings in cash terms by getting on the ladder, with the average monthly mortgage payment for a first home being ÂŁ215 per month cheaper than the average rent.
At the other end of the spectrum, first-time buyers in St Albans could potentially end up paying ÂŁ525 more per month when on the property ladder than they were when they were renting, the research indicated.
Across Britain, a typical first-time buyer home has a record price tag of ÂŁ226,399, Rightmove said.
Mortgages still cheaper than rent
Rightmove's property expert, Tim Bannister, said: "For those who are able to save up the deposit, it's still cheaper to pay off a mortgage as a first-time buyer in many areas than pay the equivalent in monthly rent, despite prices reaching a new record at a national level and mortgage rates rising.
"It highlights how frenetic the rental market has been for a long time now, with many areas continuing to see record rents and fierce competition between tenants for the properties available.
"It helps to explain why we're seeing such determination from first-time buyers to continue to get onto the ladder despite the economic headwinds that they face, and why we're seeing buyers increasingly return to cities while a bigger proportion of renters are looking to move away."
Here are the top five cheapest cities for first-time buyers, out of the locations looked at by Rightmove. Figures show the average asking price for a first-time buyer home, the potential monthly mortgage cost, the potential monthly rent and the potential monthly cost of a mortgage versus renting:
- Bradford, ÂŁ104,643, ÂŁ521, ÂŁ623, minus ÂŁ102
- Carlisle, ÂŁ104,784, ÂŁ522, ÂŁ556, minus ÂŁ34
- Aberdeen, ÂŁ106,088, ÂŁ528, ÂŁ718, minus ÂŁ190
- Hull, ÂŁ106,939, ÂŁ532, ÂŁ595, minus ÂŁ63
- Dundee, ÂŁ111,415, ÂŁ555, ÂŁ731, minus ÂŁ176
Here are the top five most expensive cities for first-time buyers, out of the locations looked at by Rightmove. Figures show the average asking price for a first-time buyer home, the potential monthly mortgage cost, the potential monthly rent and the potential monthly cost of a mortgage versus renting:
- London, ÂŁ508,879, ÂŁ2,533, ÂŁ2,054, ÂŁ479
- St Albans, ÂŁ393,485, ÂŁ1,958, ÂŁ1,433, ÂŁ525
- Bath, ÂŁ354,636, ÂŁ1,765, ÂŁ1,342, ÂŁ423
- Cambridge, ÂŁ354,181, ÂŁ1,763, ÂŁ1,522, ÂŁ241
- Oxford, ÂŁ351,943, ÂŁ1,752, ÂŁ1,422, ÂŁ330