First-time buyers 'can't afford to decorate'
Published On 2 November 2007
First-time buyers in the UK are having to spend so much money on their mortgage that they cannot afford to decorate their new property, a report has warned.Insurer More Than found that 60 per cent of new home owners said they have struggled to furnish their houses due to the rising costs of mortgages.
Another 35 per cent said they could only afford to paint their home after moving in and a worrying 25 per cent revealed that they spent so much to get on the property ladder that they could not even manage that.
Over half (51 per cent) the people questioned also revealed that new developments meant that more and more houses looked the same.
"Britain was once the place of cosy country cottages and quirky towns and cities," commented Mike Holliday-Williams, managing director of More Than.
"However, due to a housing shortage we are witnessing a new generation of development, where houses and apartments are increasingly standardised both inside and out.
"The impact on the average home owner is two fold. Firstly, finding a unique property is more costly and difficult and secondly it often means that the new owners will have to spend more time and money personalising their homes to their own tastes."
In September, Halifax published research which showed that one in four homeowners had opted to improve their property over the previous 12 months.
