Durham most affordable city to buy a new build

Durham offers the best option for home buyers looking to save for a new build property, new homes specialists Stone Real Estate has found.

With the average monthly salary at £1,803 and a 10% deposit on the average new build costing £14,938, it would take just 8.3 months of saving to secure a new build property.

Michael Stone, founder and chief executive of Stone Real Estate, said: “New build properties will always carry a price premium, and for good reason, as homebuyers are the first to call them home and enjoy the benefits that come with it, such as no onward chain, brand new appliances with long warranties, and the option to add their personal touch.

“However, the cost of getting on the new build ladder isn’t that much higher than the cost of existing property stock and as this research shows, homebuyers could pull together a deposit in some places in less than a year.

“Of course, a little thing called life will ensure that we can’t tuck 100% of our salary away into a property deposit fund, however, there are often two people saving for the same goal and so this research does demonstrate the areas that will see them achieve this goal in the most timely fashion.”

Dundee, Stirling, Stoke-on-Trent, and Glasgow are also home to an affordability ratio of fewer than 10 months to save a 10% new build deposit.

Exeter is where home buyers have the worst chance of saving for a new build, with the affordability ratio between wage and deposit at 24.3 months, closely followed by Cambridge at 24.1 months.

Across Great Britain, the current new build costs an average of £295,950, with a 10% deposit costing £29,595.

The average monthly net salary currently sits at £1,993 and so it would take an average of 14.9 months to save a deposit.

London’s higher wage means it is not the city with the longest affordability ratio for new builds as with an average take-home of £2,593, it would take 18.7 months to save the average new build deposit of £48,434.