Graduates priced out of property

SOARING house prices have priced out graduates hoping to get on the property ladder. Nearly two-thirds of university graduates under 30 cannot afford to buy their own home, research claimed today.

Research shows 63% of people with a university degree not owning their own house, while 10% say they cannot ever imagine being able to get on to the property ladder.

Murdo McHardy, senior manager of product development at Scottish Widows Bank, said: 'It's a worrying prospect to think that so many graduates are so disillusioned about their prospects of owning their own home.

'As it stands, this generation of graduates could be struggling to get on to the property ladder well into their thirties or even forties and, unfortunately, the situation is only going to get worse.'

The research also showed unaffordable property is not just an issue for recent graduates - a fifth of those who left university more than six years ago claim they despair about ever being able to buy their own home.

Overall, 14% of 25 to 30-year-olds say they cannot imagine being able to afford a property, compared with 6% among the under-25s.

At the same time, 19% of those questioned thought it would take them up to 10 years before they were able to get on to the property ladder.

Among those graduates who had managed to get on to the property ladder before 30, around a fifth had borrowed money from family or friends to finance their deposit, while a quarter were given money for it.

However, despite graduates' complaints about not being able to buy before 30, figures from lender Halifax show the average age of all first-time buyers is 34, up from 29 years in 1974, suggesting non-graduates are having to wait far longer to step on to the ladder.

Scottish Widows Bank said the Government needed to do more to help graduates get on to the property ladder, while lenders also needed to develop more innovative and flexible products to cater for this group.

It added that students should stop relying on debt and relearn the savings habit.

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