Soaring prices force couples into house or family decision

SOARING house prices are forcing couples to choose between buying a home or getting married and starting a family, a new survey has revealed.

One in four young people are postponing getting married while they try to save enough money to secure a home, while a third are delaying having children because they cannot afford both a family and a deposit for a house.

According to academic research and a survey for internet bank, Egg, buying property, and gaining the qualifications to land a job to pay for it, are placing enormous pressures on young people.

Researchers who interviewed 1,000 prospective homeowners aged between 18 and 25 found they were prepared to sacrifice family and social lives to get on the property ladder.

More than half believed the only way they would be able to get enough money together to buy a house was if they received some sort of inheritance or family help.

The average cost of a three-bedroomed house in Ireland climbed almost 9,500 in the first six months of this year, to 166,205, a recent survey by the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute found.

In Dublin city, the average price is 230,000, up almost 14,000, while average prices in Cork rose 8,985, to 169,426.

“Property is less affordable for first-time buyers than it has been for a generation and rising deposit levels will inevitably make it harder,” head of banking at Egg, Andy Deller, said.

Although the survey was based on young British people, figures from the Central Statistics Office here show that people are having children later in life and family sizes are getting smaller.

In 1962, there were more than 2,000 births to mothers who had 10 or more previous children. There were only 55 such births in 1998.

Although other factors influence the number of children couples decide to have, as well as when to have them, director of housing support agency Threshold, Kieran Murphy, said that for some people having a family or buying a house are in direct competition as major life choices.

“Because house prices have doubled and even trebled here in the last five years, in order to get on the property ladder people must prioritise whether to start a family or buy a house.

“If you want to buy a house you have to come up with 10% of the cost, which is a huge amount of money given recent house price increases,” he said.

Mr Murphy also pointed out that since most mortgages are dependent on two incomes, it is a huge decision to start a family for most couples.

“Many mortgages are dependant on two incomes to keep up with the monthly repayments.

“If there is a life event, like a baby, which means an interrupted period where only one wage is coming in, it can cause huge pressure, particularly when you take into account the increasing costs of childcare,” he said.

According to Egg, the only solution open to most people is to save as much as possible as early as possible, improving the chance of accumulating a healthy savings pot to avoid disappointment down the line.