The last few years haven’t been easy for those wanting to buy their first home.

A shortage of suitable houses, prices far outstripping wages and rents too high to allow tenants to save for a deposit have all ganged up against them.

But the outlook in Carlisle seems much less gloomy, if a new report is to be believed.

Research by the Halifax – Britain’s biggest mortgage lender – shows that the city has the youngest first-time buyers in the country.

The average age of a person climbing the first rung of the property ladder in the city is just 27 – seven years younger than people in parts of London.

Carlisle came out at the top for young buyers, alongside Torfaen, Monmouthshire, in south Wales.

Of course the Halifax aren’t likely to say anything to discourage house-buying.

But Graeme MacLeod, managing director of Cumberland Estate Agents, agrees that the situation for young buyers is much easier in Carlisle than elsewhere.

“In August 2016 there was an increase in mortgage lending compared to August 2015,” he observes. “That’s not really the picture nationally.


Graeme MacLeod “We have a good share of first-time buyer stock, there’s no doubt about that, and we have seen some good movement.

“It’s a great area for first-time buyers and other reports show it has good growth yields for landlords.”

Mr MacLeod sees three reasons for this. For a start, Carlisle is popular with the young. “It’s a great place for nightlife, bars and restaurants. It’s an attractive place for young people to live.

The second is the prices. “We have lots of very, very affordable properties. The average earnings to house prices ratio is about seven and a half in Carlisle. Nationally it’s 11 and a half to 12.”

But most important is the ready supply of housing. “There’s no shortage of choice for buyers. Carlisle has got an awful lot of terraced houses. If you do a search for properties under £125,000 – the vast majority of first-time properties – you are going to find close to 300 houses.”

It’s simple economics that if there is plenty of anything it won’t be too expensive. And Colin West, director of Tiffen & Co estate agents, says that is what is at play in Carlisle.

He agrees with Mr MacLeod. “There’s a lot of available stock for first-time buyers in Carlisle.

“When there’s a sufficient supply it steadies prices, and allows more first-time buyers to get on the market.

“Therefore they enter the market earlier. A 10 per cent deposit is much easier to save up for with a £60,000 property than with a £150,000 property.”

And he points out another route that’s increasing in popularity: buying a cheap house from parents who have managed to pick up a bargain at auction.

Mr West is also an auctioneer with Auction House, one sector of the Tiffen business, and he notes: “The majority of buyers at auction are landlords and investors, but there’s a growing number of people from the Bank of Mum and Dad or the Bank of Gran and Grandad.


Colin West “The majority of first-time buyers are going through the normal route. But there’s a handful of parents at each auction getting their children on the ladder.

“What we are finding is that parents are buying a property and paying for work on it, and then their children are getting a mortgage to pay them back.”

And there’s still an appetite for houses damaged by the floods. Buyers are calculating that the low price cancels out the higher risk of flooding in future. “People are keen to buy a house that is 50 to 60 per cent of its pre-flood value.

“They will factor in how much they have to spend to repair it. It’s a question of risk versus reward.

“We have recently sold 30 properties that were flood-affected. The majority were bought by investors but around 20 per cent went to the Bank of Mum and Dad.”

Cumberland Estate Agents are not confined do Cumberland. They cover other parts of north west England and south west Scotland, and Mr MacLeod notices: “I wouldn’t say Carlisle was atypical.

“We sell houses from Preston up to Dumfries, and there isn’t a property glut or a property shortage in any of these places.”

Judith Derbyshire isn’t so sure. The Eden councillor is also former manager of Cumbria Rural Housing Trust, and says that the easy situation in Carlisle isn’t reflected in many parts of the county. And it is storing up problems for the future.

“We have got a lot of people who are going to be retiring in the next few years, and we haven’t got enough people to replace them,” she warns.


Judith Derbyshire “Jobs in tourism and agriculture have a low wage history.

“We will also need people caring for these older people, and we are going to have great difficulty finding them.”

She sees one simple reason for this. The young can’t afford to live there.

“It started in the central Lake District, with places like Langdale,” Mrs Derbyshire relates. “At the top end, 75 to 80 per cent of properties are second homes or holiday lets. That has rippled out.

“Young people may want to stay, but they can’t afford to so they move out of the area.”

The Government introduced the Help to Buy scheme to assist first-timers, but Mrs Derbyshire says other Government policies have added to the problem.

In the past they provided money allowing housing associations to build more houses, but she says: “That’s been reducing and reducing and reducing.”

“I’m glad young people in Carlisle are able to buy houses. But people in the village I live in, Stainton, are moving to Carlisle.”

So what will happen where the shortage remains? There have been forecasts that a ‘generation rent’ will emerge, of young people resigned to living in rented accommodation all their lives.

But Mr MacLeod believes the demand for owner-occupation will remain.

“The attraction and enjoyment of owning your own house is something people still aspire to,” he says.

“Some people choose to rent and find it’s fine for their lifestyle. But as you get older, or have a family, there’s still a huge drive to have your own bricks and mortar.”