Getting onto the property ladder in the UK is a lot more difficult than many other European countries, according to new research from ING International.
The ING International Survey on Homes and Mortgages polled 15,000 people across 15 European countries and discovered that first-time buyers in Britain face some of the toughest obstacles.
More than half of people in Europe were reportedly bullish about house prices rising in the next year, while 79 per cent of Europeans admitted that it is becoming increasingly difficult to afford their first home.
In the UK, 89 per cent of respondents questioned how first-time buyers were supposed to ever make it onto the housing ladder, echoing recent data showing that the average house price in Britain has risen by eight per cent between the first quarter of 2014 and one year later. This figure is eight times the average European rise, signifying the uphill struggle many buyers are facing.
Across Europe, the majority of those surveyed were pessimistic about opportunities for first-time homeowners, adding that the housing crisis is worsening. A total of 88 per cent of people in Spain worried about the ability to join the housing market, especially considering the current high levels of unemployment in the country, while 87 per cent of Belgians agreed, adding that stagnant wages and stringent lending conditions would also act as barriers to the housing ladder.
People in Germany were found to be the least concerned about conditions for first-time buyers, with only 59 per cent believing that the housing market was becoming more difficult to enter. Elsewhere in the world, 89 per cent of Australians shared these concerns, as well as 72 per cent of Americans.
Across Europe, 69 per cent of homeowners agreed that society would benefit if house prices began to fall, helping to improve economic security and prosperity for the next generation of homebuyers.
Data from HM Revenue & Customs shows the average UK salary for 20 to 24-year-olds is £16,400. In order to afford to pay for their first home and be granted a mortgage, this would mean that first-time buyers currently require an average salary of £38,917, according to a recent report from Which.
