Moving further away from family, friends and familiar places to get onto the property ladder is becoming more common for first-time buyers (FTBs), according to research from Santander.
Two-thirds (67%) of those who bought their first home in the past two years had never seen their new neighbourhood before buying, compared to 51% of those who bought more than five years ago.
While most made sacrifices in the type of property – fewer bedrooms, less garden space, or taking on a renovation project – 60% of first-time buyers moved to an area they had never heard of.
Being further away from family (70%) and friends (68%) were also among the top compromises.
40% of buyers spent less than two hours getting to know an area before buying a property there, with many saying they spent more time watching a series on Netflix (23%) or scrolling social media in an average week (21%).
Santander teamed up with actor and presenter Ryan Thomas to challenge him and four first-time buyers to get to know a new neighbourhood in just two hours, from playing a game of pool with the local pub landlord, to finding a new house plant and checking out the local gym.
Thomas moved 212 miles from Manchester to Brentwood, Essex, a neighbourhood where he’d never been before, prior to meeting his fiancé, Lucy Mecklenburgh.
Thomas said: “It can be daunting moving home, especially when you’re building your life in a completely new area.
“Moving away from my family in Manchester was difficult at first and it takes a while to find your feet in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, but I quickly started to get to know the locals, the great places for food, and where to take the kids for a fun day out.
“Moving first to Brentwood, and now seven years later, Lucy moving to my hometown Manchester, has shown us both that getting to know a new neighbourhood is full of adventure.”
More than a third (36%) of first-time buyers gave their top reason for moving to an unfamiliar neighbourhood as it being cheaper, while a quarter (24%) said they could not find a property in the neighbourhood they had planned to live in that met their criteria.
The distance buyers looked from their original location also grew, with last year’s Santander mortgage customers moving on average 23% further from their previous address, compared to the last four years.
First-time buyers moving to new neighbourhoods in the past two years saving an average of £29,000 compared to buying a house in the area they lived in before.
Graham Sellar, head of mortgage development at Santander, said: “There’s a growing trend among first-time buyers to move to neighbourhoods further away from where they grew up, or where they were previously renting.
“Whether their original area is unaffordable, or they’re deliberately looking to move further afield to get better value for their money, location has become the number one compromise for many first-time buyers.”
