Mortgages top 2014 financial wish list

CHEADLE, U.K. - Jan. 16, 2014 - PRLog -- After a year in which property prices continued to steadily rise on the back of increased demand, it seems the hunger to get on the property ladder will continue into 2014. Part of the reason for this is the release of Help to Buy last year, a Government-led scheme designed to encourage first-time buyers to purchase a home.

Within the poll respondents were asked what their main financial aim for the coming year was, with 39.5pc saying they wanted to get a mortgage. On a less optimistic note, paying-off any outstanding debts came in a close second; with 34.9pc saying this was their main priority for the coming year.

Just over 20pc said that they would like to start saving regularly, while only 2.3pc said that starting a pension was most important.

These statistics are also backed-up by the trend in people looking for financial advice. Andrew Gurton, financial adviser at www.financialadvice.co.uk, said: “We’re helping more and more people with questions they have about buying a home, with first-time buyers making up the majority. Help to Buy seems to have opened the door to many who were unable to raise the required deposit before the scheme was launched.

“However, and this is mainly due to the time of year, we’ve also seen a rise in the amount of people contacting us looking for debt solutions”, he continued.

In November we learnt that house sales we up by a total of 24pc year-on-year, while last year we also saw average prices rise to the highest post-recession level.