Over the last 60 years it has become more and more difficult for people to save and purchase their first homes. With the cost of living and renting forever increasing it is difficult for many millennials to save enough for the sum of money required for a housing deposit.
The Independent state that the average age of first time buyers has increased to 30 years old, as opposed to 23 years old in 1960. The average deposit required has also increased to £20,000 from what was the equivalent of £12,000 almost 60 years ago. So what are millennials doing to gain control over their financial situations?
Just like most things these days, millenials are turning to mobile apps to help them in an attempt to gain control over spending and work towards that housing deposit saving goal. In a world where there is seemingly an app for everything, the number of money saving apps available on the market to help millennials with their finances has risen significantly, driven by emerging Fintech businesses. This is no surprise, given recent figures reported by The Guardian stating that investment within the sector has reached an all time high of $57bn globally. There are several different types of savings tools available on mobiles, that can help millennials become more financially aware, and save money as they prepare to buy a property.
Credit Apps
In the first instance it is important for millennials to understand where they sit financially with regards to being able to apply for a mortgage. One such way to get clarity around this is by understanding credit scores. Apps such as Clearscore aim to give customers clarity on how risky they appear to prospective lender for things such as mortgages. Clearscore give regular monthly updates, free of charge, on individuals credit scores along with suggestions on what has caused the score to go up or down and ways to improve their credit.
Savings Apps
There are many variations of savings apps available. The Financial Times recently put Moneybox, Chip, Emma and You Need a Budget to the test with millenials. One benefit of using these apps seems to be that it makes individuals more aware of their spending, as unlike conventional banking apps, they provide you with more alerts on your current account and savings amounts. Some of these apps are designed in order to round up spending to the nearest pound and invest money automatically for customers into ISA’s.
Mortgage Broker Apps
Finally, once millennials have reached the seemingly impossible goal of saving a housing deposit, there are apps available which can again help to save money on mortgage products. Apps such as Dashly allow users to upload their financial information into an end to end platform where they can compare mortgage products, apply for and secure the best mortgage for them, ensuring they secure the best interest rates and product fees possible to them.
By using a combination of these mobile apps, many millenials are finding they are able to take control and save towards housing deposits.
