First-time house buyers turn to P2P lenders
By Tom WrightOver two-thirds of Zopa's customers aged 18-40 are using the service to raise money for their first home, the peer-to-peer (P2P) lender has reported
Section: P2P
Over two-thirds of Zopa’s customers aged 18-40 are using the service to raise money for their first home, the peer-to-peer (P2P) lender has reported.
With house prices rising on average 4.6% a year, over one-half of those looking to buy in London were saving for a deposit of over £40,000.
Giles Andrews, Zopa’s Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, said: “Buying a home is a major milestone in many people’s lives and saving a deposit is getting harder each year as prices and the amount required increases.”
“I’m proud that Zopa is helping first time buyers reduce the time it takes to own a home by allowing them to grow their money faster with better rates.
“From April 2016 we will be able to help millions of people keep more of their interest as P2P lending becomes part of the tax free ISA wrapper and personal savings allowance.”
Less than 1 in 5 prospective buyers are receiving help from government schemes such as help-to-buy, and 55% expect to receive no financial help from their families.
Of those not saving for a deposit, one-third said that it was because house prices are too high.
Keywords: p2p lending, peer-to-peer, p2p, zopa, giles andrews, house buyer, house deposit, london house prices, medianett, bridging and commercial