Getting on the property ladder is a risky business

PEOPLE waiting to get on the property ladder may be wondering if their dreams will ever become reality amid tales of rising house prices and tough competition for homes.

Across the UK housing market, demand from buyers picked up in September for the first time in seven months according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

And with buyer demand on the up, research has spelled out just how desperate some would-be home-owners are to get a foothold.

A third of prospective home-buyers aged 34 and under would be willing to buy a home in a high-crime area, according to a survey.

Some 34% of 18 to 34-year-olds would be willing to do this, compared with just 7% of over-55s.

And despite widespread coverage of the damage caused by storms in recent years, 36% of 25 to 34-year-olds would consider living in a flood-risk area if it helped them on to the property ladder, the research from Aviva found.

Many would also roll up their sleeves and take on a run-down “doer-upper” property in need of significant changes to make it safe if it meant they owned their own home.

Lindsey Rix, managing director, personal lines, at Aviva UK General Insurance, said: “Home ownership is still seen by many in the UK as a significant milestone in life, and these findings make it clear that many people are being forced to be flexible about where they buy in order to get a leg up on the housing ladder.”

Meanwhile, a separate report from Post Office Money Mortgages found that four in 10 (40%) people who rent their home had given up on ever buying a property.

The struggle to raise a deposit was the main reason renters gave for not being able to buy their own home.

Of course, not everyone wants to be a home owner – and one in 16 (6%) tenants said they liked the freedom of being able to move when they wanted to.

Half of house hunters buy new home using ‘traditional’ methods rather than on apps or websites