Potential first time buyers 'forced to live with parents'

04-Jun-2007

A shortage of cheap homes is the principal reason why young would-be first time buyers still live at home with their parents, a new study has found.

The Gallup survey interviewed 15 to 30-year-olds in 27 different countries, and discovered that 44.1 per cent of UK respondents said that a lack of affordable housing was the main stumbling block to leaving the family unit.

This figure was mirrored in countries such as Spain, France, Ireland and Lithuania, but just eight per cent of German young people and two per cent of Portuguese believe themselves to be in a similar situation.

Parents are also required to play a crucial role in helping their children onto the property ladder when the chance does arise, according to recent figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which found that 39 per cent of new homeowners aged 30 and under received financial assistance from their parents.

The average house price in the UK and Wales now stands at around £180,000, according to two separate studies released last week.

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