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Your first home together

Summer is here at last and along with Wimbledon, Glastonbury and red skin, weddings are the epitome of the great British summer time. Most people in the UK tend to get married between May and August. This is because, by and large, the weather is better therefore making the photographs even more special.

But this year, last year and probably next year too are tough times to get married. More of us are in debt, more of us are unemployed, more of us can’t afford to save and are money isn’t going as far as it once was. What with the average wedding costing around £11,000 in Britain, we cannot afford to overspend by even 10% and we definitely need some help saving up for the big day.

This means that once the wedding is over, the honeymoon confined to photographs and reality is well and truly kicking in there isn’t really any more left for the next big move: property.

The average UK house price is now a scary £234,837, with the mean before tax income being just under £23,000. If you receive no extra income and you have no monthly loan commitments, the most you could borrow is about £87,000. As a couple, both on £23,000 you can get £175,000, which is still well short of the average house price. This means you need a big deposit of extra income.

There are some banks offering 95% mortgages, however the interest rates are so high that it isn’t usually worth it. There are a lot more 90% mortgages coming onto the market however, with first-time buyers in mind. The rates are still pretty attractive, however to get the best rates, 20%-30% deposits are your best option. But this means saving again, just after you saved £11,000 odd for your wedding. And to get a 25% deposit on the average property you will need to save almost sixty grand! Now that really isn’t an option for first time buyers.

Choosing the type of mortgage that is best for you can be rather challenging. There are so many available that knowing what is going to work in five to ten years is a big ask for first-time buyers. Right now, fixed rate deals are a good option because you can lock in the low interest rates that have come about as a result of the Bank of England’s low base rate. With a base rate of just 0.5% it can’t go any lower, but it could rise in the next two years, so locking in a rate now is a good idea.

If you need help with finding a mortgage that will work for you at a price that you can afford, make use of Santander’s mortgage calculator.