The jobs where it will take you 100 years to buy a home

If you work in one of these jobs, it could take you more than a century to build up a deposit to buy a property.

Online estate agent HouseSimple.com has calculated how long it would take workers in various professions to save a deposit for the average UK property.

The results are quite shocking. Scores of roles, including fitness instructor, bar tender and hairdresser, are included on a list of jobs where it would take more than 100 years to save enough money to get on the property ladder.

Some roles would require an even longer-term savings plan – and life expectancy. School lollipop ladies and gents would have to save for 552 years to have a large enough deposit to purchase the average first-time buyer property.

The calculations

HouseSimple.com used ONS annual salary data to determine pay for certain jobs and another ONS figure of £202,765 as the average amount first-time buyers pay for their home.

HouseSimple.com did the sums on the basis that savers would put aside 10% of their net salary every year for a house deposit, and that the maximum mortgage loan they could secure would be four-and-a-half times their gross annual salary. This means that in many cases, low income workers would have to save eye-watering deposits to qualify for relatively small mortgages.

How long will it take to save a deposit?

For example, a retail cashier earns an average of £9,160 a year. Saving 10% of his or her net salary would mean they put away £902.80 a year. The maximum mortgage they’d be eligible for at four-and-a-half times their income would be £41,220.

That means they would need a £161,545 deposit, which would take a ridiculous 179 years to save (£161,545 divided by £902.80), to buy the average first-time buyer property priced at £202,765.

Meanwhile, a care worker would have to save for almost 125 years, shelf fillers 135 years, hairdressers 161 years and taxi drivers 100 years.

Lollipop men and school lunch supervisors get paid an average salary of just £3,394 meaning it would take 552 years to save a £187,492 deposit to put down for a £15,273 mortgage.

Of course, it’s worth pointing out that school crossing supervisor is rarely the choice of a school leaver looking for a full-time job and is usually a part-time role for someone who has retired.

Most of the other jobs on the list, though, are popular roles.

Alex Gosling, CEO of HouseSimple.com, summed up the results saying: “When you’re more likely to receive a telegram from the Queen before you can buy the average first-time buyer property in the UK, there is something fundamentally wrong with the housing market.”

The list in full

The following table shows a list of the jobs that would take 100 years or more to save enough for a deposit on the average first time buyer property in the UK.

Affordability crisis

The research highlights just how big a problem affordability has become in the UK property market.

Earlier this year a study by accountants KPMG showed that homes are unaffordable for first-time buyers in every single one of the UK’s regions.

It found that first-time buyers need to earn almost £41,000 to afford a home in the UK, while those in London would need to be on £77,000.

However, outside of London and the south east, there are areas where house prices are within reach of people earning lower incomes. 

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