Despite recent good news that the London property market is on the up and up, the remainder of the UK property market is still struggling to recover from the recent global credit crunch. The most affected it seems, are young people looking to buy their first house. Statistics show that young professionals are putting their relationships, marriages and the idea of having children on hold until they are able to purchase a property in the UK.
Recent research carried out by the National Housing Federation indicates that almost 40% of young professionals are reluctant to get married or have children until they are able purchase a UK property of their own. The research focused on 18 to 30 year olds who were not yet home owners.
Some of the primary reasons for not being able to buy a UK property included 63% of people who said housing prices were currently just too high for their budget, 41% who said banks were reluctant to give out loans and 21% stating that the uncertainty of the current economy played a part in them delaying their property purchases and subsequently their life plans.
Statistics show too, that it’s not just the younger generation who are being petty and creating a problem that doesn’t really exist. At present, the cost of the UK property for sale for young professionals from an estate agent Wandsworth for example, is about £135 000 which works out to about 4.2 times the average wage of people between the ages of 18 and 30. Twenty years ago, when this generation’s parents would most likely have been looking to purchase UK properties, the average house cost around £46 000 which works out to only about 2.5 time the average salary back then.
There are currently a record amount of 4.5 million people on waiting lists for UK properties. This obviously results in incredible competition for property which results in unaffordable housing prices.
David Orr, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation had the following comments:
“We are in danger of locking a whole generation of young people out of the housing market because prices are simply too high. So many people are putting their life on hold and waiting until they can start a family or get married because they can’t afford their own place. A chronic shortage of new affordable homes has sent prices rocketing over the last decade, well out of reach of the vast majority of first time buyers.”
Let’s hope the three ruling parties in the UK are taking note of this very serious issue before it escalates into an irrecoverable situation. Yes, maybe the London property market is currently flourishing, but the rest of the UK property market is under strain and something drastic needs to be done to salvage the situation.
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