NORTHAMPTONSHIRE'S leading housebuilder says it is bucking the national trend by helping young adults become home owners at a much younger age than the UK average.

A major national poll of attitudes to housing trends in the UK, conducted by the independent polling company ComRes, has revealed that young adults are more attached to the idea of owning their own home than any other age-group, with 86 per cent of under-30s identifying it as a key priority in life.

But young people are often unable to take their first step on the property ladder and the average age of an unassisted first-time buyer is now 37.There are now around 200,000 first-time buyers a year compared with around 600,000 a decade ago, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Paul Walker, Sales Director at Barratt Northampton commented: "Significant numbers of people across the country - especially those under the age of 30 - appear to be delaying key life decisions such as starting a family because they cannot take that all-important first step on the housing ladder.

"But the good news is that Barratt Northampton is stepping in to help local people through these issues. We specialise in helping young people onto the property ladder and have a number of incentives which can help Barratt customers become homeowners years ahead of their contemporaries."

"For example, there are loans to parents which can be used to help fund their children's deposits. Or our Headstart scheme which enables buyers to move into a new home for just 85 per cent of the price."

To buy a home from Barratt Northampton you may only need a deposit as little as £4,249. This would buy you a two-bedroom house priced at £99,995 at Meridian Park in Corby.

Other findings from the ComRes research showed that people under the age of 30 are more opposed than any other age group to 'Continental' models of tenure in which families routinely rent for the duration of their adult lives.

Some 90 per cent of respondents aged between 18 and 29 would not be happy if they had to live in rented accommodation for the rest of their working lives. 64 per cent say that they would not be happy to start a family while they were renting and 43 per cent would not be happy to get married until they owned their own home.

A large majority across all age groups think the housing crisis will get worse rather than better. 61 per cent agreed with the statement 'In 20 years' time it will be even more difficult for people to get on the housing ladder than it is today'. Only nine per cent disagreed.

Barratt Northampton is currently building a range of high quality homes throughout the following developments in Northamptonshire:

Meridian Park Oakley Vale Corby Northamptonshire NN18 8PH Meridian Park offers a range of two-, three- and four-bedroom homes priced from £99,995. The sales office is open daily from 11am to 6pm.

The Pastures Lyveden Way Corby Northamptonshire NN18 8QR The Pastures comprises four-bedroom houses priced from £193,999. The sales office is open daily from 11am to 6pm.

The Grange Ironwood Avenue Desborough Northamptonshire NN14 2JJ The Grange offers a range of four- and five-bedroom houses priced from £199,995. The sales office is open daily from 11am to 6pm.

For more information on Barratt Northampton and its range of offers, please drop into your local sales office or call the sales hotline on 0844 811 3399 open seven days a week from 8am to 9pm. Alternatively, please log on to www.barratthomes.co.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1)For further information about Barratt Northampton please contact Hannah Elwell, Director of PR or Tom Lee, PR Account Executive on 0116 247 1777 or Hannah@unsworthsugden.co.uk or Tom@unsworthsugden.co.uk 2)Barratt Group is expected to build 11,500 homes in the current financial year, making it the biggest housebuilder by volume in Britain. 3)Barratt Group was named Housebuilder of the Year at the Daily Telegraph British Homes Awards 2010. 4)Barratt Group was the only major housebuilder to be given a maximum five star rating - its highest ever score - in 2010's HBF Customer Satisfaction Survey. 5)In 2010 site managers working for Barratt Group won the highest number of NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Awards for a record sixth consecutive year. 6)Barratt Group is the only housebuilder to guarantee the fixtures and fittings in place at the time of purchase of its new homes for five years. 7)Barratt Group is also one of Britain's foremost sustainable housebuilders. It has now started on site at the Hanham Hall development near Bristol which will be the first Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 community in the UK when it is completed in 2011. 8)Images of a selection of developments are available to the media at http://www.barrattdevelopments.co.uk/media/photographs/barratthomes/

*Building Societies Association Property Tracker (December 2010) available online at http://www.bsa.org.uk/mediacentre/press/property_tracker_dec10

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