Anyone who knows even a little about the UK housing market realises that it is much harder to buy a home nowadays than it was in the past. A number of requirements have meant that many people have been or are being priced out of the marketplace altogether. For example the average deposit required today in order to get a mortgage and buy a home is around £30,000. It has been calculated that this is around ten times the amount a home buyer would have needed in the Eighties. National Housing Federation reveals more details These sobering details have been revealed in a report issued by the National Housing Federation (NHF). Their report, called Broken Market, Broken Dreams, also points out the multiple of earnings has become much higher. In 1979 you would only have needed to borrow approximately 1.7 times your annual income. Today that has risen sharply to around 3.4 times the annual income. In addition to this home buyers need to earn a much higher income in the first place. Back in the Eighties around £20,000 would have been fine, whereas today you would need to be on a minimum of £36,500 to stand a chance of buying a property. The Bank of Mum and Dad It is perhaps no great surprise to learn that many first-time buyers are hoping for an injection of cash from their parents in order to fund their first home. Indeed the number of people who have received money from their parents has doubled in the last five years alone. This is encouraging for those who have parents with deep pockets but not so encouraging for those who cannot afford to turn in this direction, or have no parents to rely on in this way. Four out of five English people believe home ownership is harder The idea of home ownership turning into something akin to a members club is now not so difficult to understand. When 80% of those questioned believe it was much easier for their parents to buy and own their own home, it clearly points to a challenge that will not be easy to meet. Indeed the number of people who thought none of the politicians around today had any real answers to these problems was around the same figure 80%. Home ownership has definitely become much harder for people today. While the Mortgage Market Review was brought in with good intentions (namely making sure people didnt overstretch themselves when getting a mortgage) it has made home ownership ever more difficult. A reduction in house prices will surely help matters but there is no sign of things getting any easier in the near future. The statistics revealed by the NHF make worrying reading for anyone who does not have rich parents. It may well be that many working people today will never get the chance to own their own homes during their lifetimes, and that indeed would be sad.
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