Sonia Speedy, Wednesday June 04, 2008
Nearly a third of wannabe homeowners still can't afford to get a leg up onto the property ladder, even with house prices falling. But don't give up! We've found some alternative routes to help you become a proud homeowner
House prices might have fallen by 2.4% on average in May, as the latest Halifax House Price Index suggests, but young first-time buyers are still finding buying a home to be out of their reach.
A new report from Hometrack found that 28.3% of young working households still can't get a foothold on the property ladder, even on the lowest rungs in their area. The worst areas are in London and the Southwest, where around 40% of young people are struggling to buy.
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At the same time, it's become more difficult to get a mortgage - the latest Bank of England figures show that in April lending for homes dropped to £6.4bn in the UK from £6.7bn in March.
To top things off, there looks to be little hope of significant mortgage rate cuts on the horizon as increases in the cost of living force rates to stay high.
