Saving for a deposit on a house has always been tough. However, with houses prices soaring millennials are taking drastic measures when saving for a first home.
(And it's not giving up avocado toast and bottomless brunches.)
Related:These are the WORST cities and towns for female first-time buyers saving for a deposit
A third of Brits have confessed to being happy to continue renting for the rest of their lives, but a large group of millennials not content with this situation are skipping one of life's biggest milestones to get that first foot on the property ladder.
A study by blind and curtain specialist Thomas Sanderson found 60 per cent of 23 to 38-year-olds are skipping marriage in order to save for a home.
Saving for a first home
The study surveyed 2,200 people all in long-term relationships and found that young couples took on average 7 years to save for a home. During those seven years three-fifths admitted to saving money by deciding not to get married or postponing their nuptials.
A further 26 per cent had decided not to buy an engagement ring for their partner in an effort to save up. However, marriage wasn’t the only thing 20 and 30-year-olds were giving up to save for a deposit.
Going out and a few glasses of wine was a luxury nixed by 86 per cent of people saving for a first home. 79 per cent had given up their holidays and 71 per cent pinched their pennies by not eating out.
Takeaways and daily coffees from Starbucks or Costa were also given up in favour of a home.
With the help of these measures, most millennials were able to save up £4,000 a year. Yet three quarters still had to rely on loans from a family member to meet all the costs of buying a house.
‘It’s promising to see that so many young people are mature enough to alter their lifestyle in order to be able to save up for a house, but it perhaps shouldn’t be the case,’ says Richard Petrie, Marketing Director at Thomas Sanderson.
‘Certainly, nobody should be putting off marriage because they won’t be able to afford a house, but that is the harsh reality that we live in,’ he adds.
Related: The easy way first-time buyers can raise £17,000 for their deposit in just one year
Would you press pause on your trip down the aisle to pay for a home?
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