Sacrifices Made To Get On The Housing Ladder
New research reveals that 14% of homeowners claim that in order to get their first step on the property ladder, they have had to take on two jobs at the same time. The new findings, which are from Engen Group, the UK based innovation and property business which focusses on addressing environmental challenges such as affordable and sustainable housing, also reveals that 16% have borrowed money from family members in order to buy their first home.
Other measures taken include selling valuable items (7% of homeowners claim they have done this) and some 306,000 say they had stay in a relationship for the sole purpose of being able to buy a property.
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Steps people have taken to buy a property
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Percentage of people who own a property
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Borrowed money from family members
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16%
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Taken on more than one job
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14%
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Sold valuable belongings
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7%
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Sold items you are emotionally attached to
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6%
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Bought a house with a sibling or other relative
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3%
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Borrowed money from friends
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3%
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Bought a house with a friend
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2%
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Sustained a relationship for the sole purpose of being able to buy a property
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1%
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Overall, Engen Group’s research found that for those people not living in a family member’s home, 57% claim to make sacrifices to help pay for their housing costs. Four out of ten (43%) say they go out/eat out less because of this, but 4% claim they have also cut back on buying medicine and medical treatment.
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Areas people cut back on in order to help meet housing costs
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Percentage of adults who don’t live in a family member’s home
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Going or eating out
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43%
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Clothes
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38%
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Holidays
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35%
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Food
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16%
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Heating
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15%
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Exercise
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13%
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Education
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5%
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Medicine/medical treatment
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4%
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Graeme Boiardini, CEO of Engen Group said: “Getting a first step on the property ladder is a dream for many, but our research shows the sacrifices people have to make to achieve this. Also, once they are on it, many clearly continue to make sacrifices to pay for their housing costs. As the population increases, the need for affordable and sustainable housing has never been greater.”