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The first six months of 2017 saw a 3% increase in the number of first-time buyers, taking the total to an estimated 162,704 compared to 154,200 in the same period of 2016. 

New analysis has revealed which areas of Britain outside of London are home to the highest concentration of new build properties as a share of all property sales. According to the analysis, by Zoopla, Milton Keynes tops the list, with new homes accounting for over a third (33.2%) of property sales. Crewe is in second place with 29.6%, followed by the Greater London town of Ilford (28.8%) in third place. At the other end of the table, the Shetland village of Sandness has the smallest proportion of property sales accounted for by newly built properties, at only 0.5%. The second lowest is Greater London’s Orpington, at 2.7%, closely followed by the Scottish town of Dumfries with 2.9%. The analysis also looked at how property values have changed in areas with a higher proportion of new build housing. The data reveals that areas that have a new build concentration of 25% or more have grown in value on average by 29.7% over the past five years, 6% above than the national average property price growth rate, which stands at 23.6%. Regionally, the research also reveals that the highest concentration of new build homes are found in Southern England (five of the top ten) and The Midlands (three of the top ten), with only Crewe (29.6%) and Middlesbrough (20.3%) representing Northern England at the top of the table. “New housing sales account for one in ten property sales each year but this varies across the country,” commented Lawrence Hall, spokesperson for Zoopla. “While there is a correlation between a large proportion of new builds and higher property price growth, new homes are typically developed in areas of high demand, which has already contributed to a rise in property values,” he added. Contact UsFor expert legal advice on buying or selling your home then contact our specialist property lawyers today.

Peter Boyd, Managing Director of Boyd Legal, Scotland’s leading equity release legal advice specialist, said the record figures combine with the fact that equity release is the fastest growing segment of the mortgage market in terms of customer numbers.

Property wealth is playing an increasing role in financing the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ and not before time, writes Peter Boyd.