First time buyers facing up to moving costs

13-Jun-2007

home costs an average of £16,000, it has been advised, in news that further illustrates the problems faced by first time buyers.

Research from Abbey Mortgages has found that Britain spent £28 billion on moving last year, with each mover spending the equivalent of two years' worth of salary (over £54,000) on the process during the course of their lifetimes.

Costs including stamp duty, financial advice, lawyers, estate agents and removal firms were responsible for such figures, Abbey has advised, with these figures likely to be increased over the course of a lifetime due to the 3.4 moves that the average Briton makes in their life.

"With the average Briton expecting to spend over two years annual average salary just meeting the costs of professional fees and stamp duty of their 3 or 4 moves, homeowners clearly need all the help they can get," suggested Abbey's head of mortgages Nici Audhlam-Gardiner.

Recent weeks have seen a number of organisations and political figures call for stamp duty to be abolished for first time buyers as a means of easing such financial strain.

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