Yorkshire Building Society is celebrating the first anniversary of the launch of its First Home Saver account, which gives aspiring homeowners the opportunity to save regularly towards a deposit for their first home.
The regular saver account has a variable interest rate of 4.70% and allows customers to deposit up to £500 per month for two years, allowing access to their savings once each year without penalty, and also permits closure of the account if required.
Yorkshire Building Society launched the First Home Saver account alongside its £5k Deposit Mortgage product which was designed to help people achieve homeownership – enabling first-time buyers with a £5,000 deposit to be considered for a mortgage of up to £500,000.
Savers who have put the maximum £500 deposit away each month since the account launched could now be in a position to move forward with the homeownership dreams with a combination of their new savings balance of over £6,150 including interest earned and the Yorkshire Building Society £5K Deposit mortgage.
Research completed by Opinium research for Yorkshire Building Society showed that 77% of 18-34 year olds save on a monthly basis and over a quarter (28%) of those are currently saving towards a house deposit, with the average aiming to save a deposit of £68,926.
On average, young people estimated that it would take five years to achieve their goal of raising a deposit.
Pete Lewis, senior savings proposition manager at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “Following last year’s launch of our £5K deposit mortgage, we wanted to ensure we also helped people to save and achieve that £5k deposit in the first place.
“Regular savings accounts can help people establish healthy savings habits as well as save for their dreams and goals.
“We’re really proud that a year on from its launch, this new account has helped hundreds of savers get one step closer towards their homeownership dreams.
“As our new research shows homeownership could be achieved a lot sooner than people currently think with regular savings and our £5K deposit mortgage.
“We want to celebrate the anniversary of this product and remind any wannabe homeowners that there are options out there that might speed up their goals.
Lauren Ashman, a customer from the Taunton branch who opened the First Home Saver last year, said: “I opened the account on the day it was released.
“I’ve always liked the idea of regular savers and hearing that there was one specifically for first time buyers really appealed to me.
“The product is a 2-year term and supports getting in the savings habit much more than one that lasts just a year. Knowing that I will have £12000 plus interest after the term is great and will really help me get on the ladder when I’m ready.”
