More than a third of British households do not have the means to buy their own home, according to Experian analysis.
Comparing the average UK household income with the average property value across the country in the fourth quarter of 2014, Experian found that 37 per cent of households are not able to pay for a house purchase.
London residents lead the statistics with 54 per cent of households unable to afford an own home. The South West (48 per cent) and South East (47 per cent) take second and third place, Experian said.
Buying an own home is easiest for the people in Scotland, the stats show, with only 24 per cent of households there not being able to afford a property purchase. The situation is more positive in the North as a whole, as just 25 per cent of people in the North East and 28 per cent of those in the North West unable to foot the bill for a house.
“Lenders are going to great lengths to understand what mortgage applicants can afford, so that the final decision to lend is fair and responsible, thanks to the Mortgage Market Review, but this has unfortunately lengthened the process. One way forward is for lenders to ‘pre-qualify’ their mortgage applicants online, giving homebuyers a fast, but accurate and fair decision on whether they will secure a mortgage and for how much, without impacting their credit score,” Jonathan Westley, managing director of consumer information services at Experian, said.
The number of new homes on sale from October to December 2014 was 187,905, or 27.1 per cent higher than a year ago. The growth was driven by a notable increase in high-end housing. The number of homes worth over £500,000, which entered the market for sale, jumped by 56.8 per cent.
The low end of the market, for properties valued at less than £100,000, also saw a lot of activity in the fourth quarter of 2014, with the number of homes surging by 16.9 per cent. The biggest increase in low-cost properties was in the North West (+41.2 per cent).
The North East was the only region to see a decline (-7.9 per cent) in properties entering the market for sale.
