The accessibility index, a new tool developed by RICS, found that the past ten years also saw a pronounced decline in the accessibility of the property market, with levels currently as low as those experienced in 1980.
A couple wishing to purchase their first house will now have to put aside the equivalent of 81.8 per cent of their joint annual take home pay to save the £32,784 deposit and stamp duty needed for the average home. This has substantially risen over the past ten years and is predicted to get even worse over the next two, with anticipated property price rises of 12 per cent.
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RICS estimates that a two-person household taking home an average income would be spending 22 per cent of their pay on servicing their mortgage each month. When the expected increases in the interest rates hit, there is a good chance that repossessions will become rife over the next twelve months.
David Stubbs, senior economist at RICS comments: There is a property glass ceiling for many first-time buyers which makes the Governments plans to create an inclusive society seem like a pipe dream. Unless the Government builds more affordable housing and raises the stamp duty threshold, many households will continue to struggle to access the housing market.
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