Young Scots face a decade of saving for first home deposit

According to BBC Scotland, a person on typical wages saving 10 per cent of their take-home pay a month could take almost eight years to save up a 10 per cent deposit for the average property.

And in some areas with higher property values, like Edinburgh, it could take more than a decade.

Examining the lives of Generation Y, the millennials born between 1980 and 2000, BBC Scotland said this group has faced a much more difficult path into the property market than previous generations as they come of age in the wake of the financial crisis and years of steadily rising house prices.

This has left many in the private rented sector, struggling to save up for a deposit while dealing with rising rents.

A National Savings and Investment survey earlier in 2017 found that 63 per cent of those aged 16 to 24 and 61% of those aged 25 to 34 were saving up either for a deposit for a home or for home improvements.

They found that those 25- to 34-year-olds saved £132.63 per month, on average – roughly 10% of their monthly take-home pay of £1,341. The 16-to 24-year-olds saved at a slightly higher rate, potentially due to more of this group still living at home.

BBC Scotland analysis applied this 10% savings rate to pay levels in various parts of Scotland, assuming a 35-hour full-time working week, and then put that up against average house prices in those same areas.

With the money going into savings with an interest rate of 1%, it would take a first-time buyer several years to save up enough money for a 10% deposit.

In Edinburgh, this could stretch to more than 11 years; in Perth and Kinross, almost 10 years; in Aberdeen, almost eight years; and in Glasgow, more than six years.

The latest NS&I Quarterly Savings Survey was conducted by Populous, across 2,018 adults from England, Wales and Scotland between 3 and 5 February 2017.