The UK has one of the largest gender property gaps in Europe when it comes to affording a house deposit, new research from Uswitch.com/mortgages reveals.
The experts at Uswitch.com/mortgages sought to uncover how much longer women of each European country must save for a house deposit than men. The study estimated the number of years that it would take for women to afford a deposit in each country; based on the average household saving rates, annual earnings, and income tax rates compared to the average property price and the minimum deposit requirements in each location.
The results:
| # | Country | Net annual savings for women (€) | Net annual savings for men (€) | Minimum deposit required (€) | Gender property gap |
| 1 | Romania | €2,370 | €2,448 | €23,976 | 3 months, 3 weeks, 4 days |
| 2 | Belgium | €5,404 | €6,003 | €24,312 | 5 months, 1 week, 5 days |
| 3 | Denmark | €5,056 | €6,243 | €15,534 | 6 months, 4 weeks, 1 day |
| 4 | Bulgaria | €1,587 | €1,896 | €6,936 | 8 months, 2 weeks, 1day |
| 5 | Netherlands | €6,991 | €8,778 | €35,424 | 1 year, 1 week, 3 days |
| 6 | Finland | €3,367 | €4,316 | €18,852 | 1 year, 2 months, 3 weeks |
| 7 | Latvia | €1,159 | €1,480 | €7,332 | 1 year, 4 months, 1 week |
| 8 | Germany | €7,162 | €9,227 | €45,000 | 1 year, 4 months, 3 weeks |
| 9 | Ireland | €4,292 | €5,279 | €32,556 | 1 year, 5 months |
| 10 | Spain | €2,149 | €2,589 | €18,924 | 1 year, 5 months, 4 weeks |
| 11 | Slovenia | €3,172 | €3,568 | €46,320 | 1 year, 7 months, 1 week |
| 12 | Portugal | €1,206 | €1,411 | €13,584 | 1 year, 7 months, 2 weeks |
| 13 | Austria | €5,441 | €7,182 | €38,124 | 1 year, 8 months, 1 week |
| 14 | Hungary | €1,764 | €2,153 | €18,720 | 1 year, 11 months |
| 15 | France | €4,934 | €6,189 | €47,160 | 1 year, 11 months, 1 week |
| 16 | Switzerland | €15,315 | €18,784 | €167,064 | 2 years, 3 days |
| 17 | Norway | €5,624 | €6,734 | €74,070 | 2 years, 2 months |
| 18 | United Kingdom | €2,221 | €3,027 | €19,218 | 2 years, 3 months, 2 weeks |
| 19 | Italy | €3,097 | €3,766 | €43,728 | 2 years, 6 months |
| 20 | Czechia | €1,881 | €2,449 | €21,288 | 2 years, 7 months |
| 21 | Slovakia | €1,279 | €1,662 | €23,292 | 4 years, 1 week |
| 22 | Poland | €356 | €431 | €17,472 | 8 years, 6 months, 2 weeks |
The UK has the fifth largest gender property gap in Europe
Uswitch.com/mortgages found that the UK has the 5th largest gender property gap, with men managing to save 36.27% more than women on average each year. This means that UK women must save for 2 years, 3 months and 2 weeks longer than their male counterparts to afford a deposit – with British men needing six years.
Romania has the smallest saving disparity between men and women
Despite having to save for the seventh longest period (10 years) to afford a house deposit, women in Romania see the smallest savings gap between men and women. On average, Romanian men save €2,448 annually – 3.28% more than Romanian women (€2,370). This means that in this Eastern European country, women need to save just 3 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days longer than men to afford a house deposit.
Uswitch.com/mortgages discovered that Belgium has the second lowest gender savings gap, with men managing to save 11.10% more than women on average each year. This means that Belgian women must save for 5 months, 1 week and 5 days longer than men to afford a deposit – with Belgian men needing just four years.
Denmark places third. On average, Danish women need to save for 6 months, 4 weeks and 1 day longer than their male counterparts to afford the minimum deposit requirement, with men earning 23.47% more than women on average each year. However, both Danish men and women can relish in the fact that they have the shortest wait in Europe to be able to afford their deposit at just three years – over 35 years quicker than Polish residents (41 years for men, 49 years for women).
With men saving 19.44% more than women each year, Bulgaria places fourth. Women in the country need 8 months, 2 weeks and 1 day longer to afford a property deposit than their male counterparts. Although this is still a long period of time, Bulgarian men and women have the second shortest wait in Europe to afford their minimum deposit requirement, at just four years –6 years sooner than their Romanian neighbours (10 years).
Polish women must save for 8 and a half years longer than men
In Poland, Uswitch.com/mortgages found that although men will save just 20.99% more than women each year, the eighth lowest savings gap in Europe, it will take women a whopping 8 and a half years longer to afford a house deposit. This is due to women saving an average of just €356 each year, a staggering 4,870% decrease to the savings made by their German neighbours (€7,162).
Please refer to the full blog post https://www.uswitch.com/mortgages/guides/how-much-longer-do-women-have-to-save-to-buy-a-home/ for more information.
Methodology:
- com/mortgages sought to uncover the European countries with the largest gender gap in the property savings period. This research compares net annual savings by gender to average residential property prices for 120m2 properties in European countries.
- Net savings by gender were calculated by multiplying the gross household saving rate by gross disposable income. Saving rates and annual earnings were both sourced from Eurostat.
- Proceeding this, the average cost of residential properties per square metre in each country was then collected. Property prices were primarily sourced from Statista however, notable national real estate portals and government institutions were also consulted for countries unavailable on Statista. Property prices per 120m2 were used to calculate average property prices.
- The average savings period for a cash purchase of a property by gender in each country was subsequently calculated as the average price for a 120m2 property divided by net annual savings.
- The average saving period for a minimum mortgage down payment was similarly calculated for a 120m2 Minimum mortgage down payment sums were calculated as the minimum deposit rate (one minus max Loan-to-Value ratio) multiplied by average property price. Maximum mortgage Loan-to-Value ratios in each country were sourced mainly from an IMF report on Macroprudential Policies and House Prices in Europe.
- Finally, the results were ranked in ascending order by how many years it takes females to save to afford a deposit, thus uncovering which country women must save for the shortest period of time.