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There are no homes left in London selling for around ¯¿½100,000, and in other towns and cities, especially in the South, the same amount will only buy you a shoebox. For many first-time buyers, this presents a major dilemma.
Do they visit the bank of mum and dad, if that's possible, or do they continue to rent? Or will they in time become part of a new generation who may never jump on the property ladder?
Impossible to get on the ladder
For twenty something's living in inner cities is almost impossible to make the leap from living at home or renting to bricks and mortar of your own.
Twenty-four year-old first-time buyer Laura Wilson is about to make the short trip from her family home in Bromley to a new apartment at Linden Homes, Mono development in nearby Downham.
She simply couldn't afford to buy anything near her workplace in Central London.
Laura's opted for a new build property at nearly ¯¿½170,000 after borrowing funds for the 10% deposit from her Father she said:
"Ideally I wanted to buy my first home in the Bromley area because it was more affordable than a central location and it meant I could stay close to my friends and family. I'm really looking forward to settling down in a familiar part of town."
Months to buy
Laura's struggle is typical of first-time buyers aged between 20 and 35. However, although she took months to try and find somewhere to buy, unusually she didn't do the usual chasing around looking at 20 or 30 properties.
"I looked on the internet a bit and in the local paper but Mono, part of the Linden Homes development, was the only place I went to see... I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted. I was just waiting for something to come along and it fitted. It's rare to find an apartment in this area at that price, in a gated development and with a balcony."
Laura also had to visit the bank of mum and dad or she wouldn't have been able to afford her first step onto the ladder.
"I wouldn't have been able to get on the ladder without the financial support of my dad, especially as I wanted to buy a new build property."
"I'm the first out of my friends from school to buy a place. Most of them rent and I think I've been lucky to have skipped this stage, having saved quite a bit of money."
Debt burden fears
With interest rates climbing higher, the debt burden is growing larger for many first-time buyers but Laura's example proves that there's some light at the end of the tunnel. "I didn't feel that young to be buying my own place, but I do seem to be in the minority. It is incredibly hard to find something decent, particularly a new one bedroom property that is affordable and within easy reach of London. But I do worry that interest rate rises are continually going to give me sleepless nights. It's tough enough coping on my salary as it is and another rise has set the alarm bells ringing."
