{"id":502,"date":"2025-05-11T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/?p=502"},"modified":"2025-05-16T15:43:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:43:51","slug":"these-5-straightforward-steps-can-add-2500-to-your-house-deposit-in-just-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/11\/these-5-straightforward-steps-can-add-2500-to-your-house-deposit-in-just-a-year\/","title":{"rendered":"These 5 straightforward steps can add \u00a32,500 to your house deposit in just a year"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"416\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23058610 lazyload\" alt=\"Person wearing a red and black flannel shirt places money into a piggy bank for a house deposit.\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-992069256.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Want to grow your house deposit with very little effort? (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"metro-article-audio-player\" data-vars-type=\"article-audio-player\">\n<div class=\"metro-article-audio-player-play-row\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"metro-article-audio-player-play-button\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<title>Listen to article<\/title>\t\t\t\t\t<span>Listen to article<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sponsor-image lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Powered by\" data-rewritten=\"false\" data-src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/metro\/includes\/site-blocks\/article-audio\/assets\/powered-by.png\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"audio-controls hidden\">\n\t\t\t\t<audio class=\"audio-element\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Home-Deposit-8ddf.mp3\" controls id=\"audio-68275c1def29e\">\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tYour browser does not support the audio element.<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/audio>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Saving for a <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/22\/can-buy-london-homes-a-deposit-10-000-22907796\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"22907796\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">deposit<\/a> can sometimes feel like an <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/22\/first-time-buyers-explain-got-property-ladder-22908088\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"22908088\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">impossible task<\/a>, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zoopla.co.uk\/discover\/property-news\/house-price-index\/\">average UK property<\/a> now stacking up at \u00a3267,400.<\/p>\n<p>For a 5% deposit, your money stash needs to total \u00a313,370 \u2013 and 10% is even worse, at \u00a326,740.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, the situation is even worse in <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/london\/\" data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\">London<\/a>, where the typical home comes in at \u00a3683,820, as data from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rightmove.co.uk\/house-prices\/london.html\"><strong>Rightmove<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0shows. We\u2019ll let you do the maths on that one.<\/p>\n<p>But if you\u2019re looking to grow your pot with very little effort, a money expert has shared how hopeful homeowners can add \u00a32,500 to their deposit in a year with a few simple steps. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018From switching bank accounts to renting out your spare room or garage, small changes in your daily routine and smart financial decisions can really add up,\u2019 says Tom Blake from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/moneysavingguru.co.uk\/\">Money Saving Guru<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tReady to start your homebuying journey?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<p>You can access completely fee-free mortgage advice with London &amp; Country (L&amp;C) Mortgages, a partner of Metro. Customers benefit from:<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Award winning service from the UK\u2019s leading mortgage broker<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Expert advisors on hand 7 days a week<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Access to 1000s of mortgage deals from across the market<\/p>\n<p>Unlike many mortgage brokers, L&amp;C won\u2019t charge you a fee for their advice.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.landc.co.uk\/destination\/partners\/metro?utm_source=factbox&amp;utm_medium=inarticle&amp;utm_campaign=factbox\">Find out how much you could borrow online<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Mortgage service provided by London &amp; Country Mortgages (L&amp;C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u2018You don\u2019t have to completely sacrifice your lifestyle either, just be a bit more strategic with your money.\u2019<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Open a Lifetime ISA<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Firstly, Tom urges the importance of opening a <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/isa\/\">Lifetime ISA<\/a> \u2013 and he says doing so can add an extra \u00a31,000 annually to your deposit.<\/p>\n<p>When you\u2019re saving for your first home, the LISA allows you to save up to \u00a34,000 each year. The government will then provide a 25% bonus on top, which will bump up your funds by \u00a31,000 if you\u2019re buying alone.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking to buddy up (whether with a partner or <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/07\/24\/bought-a-house-together-friends-get-property-ladder-2-21286152\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">friends<\/a>), then consider this figure even higher at \u00a32,000. And that\u2019s all from barely lifting a finger.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Switch bank accounts for bonuses<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Equally, don\u2019t overlook the value of <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/10\/14\/four-banks-offer-money-switch-accounts-21779917\/\">switching banks<\/a> for cash incentives. <\/p>\n<p>Tom says banks typically offer between \u00a3100 and \u00a3200 just for setting up an account, and if you swap with every new season, you could accumulate up to \u00a3800 purely in cash bonuses.<\/p>\n<p>Co-operative Bank is one example. You\u2019ll get \u00a3175 for switching over to a standard current account if you deposit \u00a31,000, have two direct debits, make ten debit card transactions and add your debit card to your phone\u2019s digital wallet.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23058617 lazyload\" alt=\"Couple shopping online\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2157490101.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>You can get extra money from switching bank accounts (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This all needs to be done within 30 days of the switch completion \u2013 and it might sound involved, but it\u2019s worth it for a bit of extra dough, right?<\/p>\n<p>First Direct also offers \u00a3175 for switching. Within 45 days, you\u2019ll need to transfer over at least two direct debits, deposit \u00a31,000, make more than five card payments, and log into your online banking account.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ditch the brands<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nimblefins.co.uk\/average-uk-household-cost-food\">Office of National Statistics<\/a>, the average Brit spends \u00a31,628 on food at home \u2013 but as Tom says, swapping to own-brand alternatives could save as much as 15%. Over a year, this could save as much as \u00a3240.<\/p>\n<p>So, the next time you pop down to the supermarket, consider taking a closer look at the prices. Do you really need that bougie brand of chopped tomatoes, or would a basic alternative do?<\/p>\n<p>Then, you can transfer to yourself what you would\u2019ve otherwise spent on a more luxurious food shop \u2013 and rest easy in the knowledge that these pennies will have more longevity in a deposit pot.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Cut down on meal deals and takeaways<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Popping to the shops for a <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/30\/tesco-hikes-price-popular-meal-deal-3-shoppers-arent-happy-22999384\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"22999384\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">meal deal<\/a> is temptingly convenient \u2013 particularly if you\u2019ve forgotten to plan ahead and bring something with you to the office.<\/p>\n<p>But taking the time to meal prep could save you as much as \u00a311 per week, which totals more than \u00a3550 each year.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23058637 lazyload\" alt=\"Thoughtful woman holding a mobile sitting on the floor of her new house while moving.\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2161725616.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Before you know it, you\u2019ll be in your new home (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>You don\u2019t need to completely cut out meal deals, takeaways and meals out to save money, either. Tom suggests aiming to cut this figure in half, which can save \u00a3275 per year.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sign up for cashback sites or apps<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Cashback sites are an equally clever \u2013 and crucially, low-effort \u2013 way to build your house pot. <\/p>\n<p>Tom says that utilising tools like TopCashback,\u00a0Quidco, or\u00a0Airtime Rewards can earn as much as \u00a3300 or even more each year.<\/p>\n<p>How does it work? Thousands of UK brands like eBay, M&amp;S, Hello Fresh, Amazon and ASOS pay TopCashback money when you spend with them \u2013 and this is shared with you as cashback.<\/p>\n<p>The money is gifted directly to your bank account, but it can also be deposited into a PayPal or even converted into a gift card for a loved one.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, you\u2019ll still have some way to go after saving \u00a32,500 before you can buy most homes, but every little helps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Get in touch by emailing <a href=\"mailto:MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk\">MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to grow your house deposit with very little effort? (Picture: Getty Images) Listen to article Listen to article Your browser does not support the audio element. Saving for a deposit can sometimes feel like an impossible task, with the average UK property now stacking up at \u00a3267,400. For a 5% deposit, your money stash [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":508,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions\/508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}