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Up to 250% increase faced by first-time buyers
17/04/2008 12:15:00
Some first-time buyers face property price increases of up to 250 per cent over the past ten years, according to new research.
The annual Roof Affordability Index has revealed that those looking for their first home in the capital have been hit hardest with the average prices almost at £260,000.
Elsewhere, the average first-time property price has leapt from £52,674 to £159,494, with house price to income ratios doubling from 1.72 to 3.4.
Adam Sampson, chief executive for the housing charity, said that despite falling house prices, many lenders are increasing their mortgage rates, making an already desperate situation worse.
"It means there is a generation of young people and young families being locked out of the housing market without a hope of ever sharing in the asset wealth of the generation before.”
Buying a home has now become an "unaffordable dream" for many consumers, he concluded.
Meanwhile, housing prices have fallen at the fastest rate in 30 years, according to new figures from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
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