Getting young people onto the property ladder

Due to the increase in the amount of money that banks charge for mortgages, there are more and more young people who cannot afford to get onto the housing ladder in conventional ways, and as a result are having to turn to newer methods to save extra or take alternative routes into the UK property market.

These methods have previously been seen in the shape of people taking on new jobs at night to subsidise their income or renting with friends in order to halve their costs and allow them the opportunity to put money away for a deposit of 20 to 25 per cent in the future.

It is now, however, becoming more difficult than ever for young people to get themselves a house, so much so that Katy John, press officer for PricedOut said that many are having to make severe compromises in the way that they live simply to allow them the chance to save up.

These new methods include such measures as living with parents for much longer or having to move away from an area in which they want to live just so they can access homes which have a better level of affordability.

"There is no easy answer to this without young people making major lifestyle compromises - living at home with their parents for longer, moving out to cheaper areas and facing longer commutes, co-locating for longer, or reducing their spend in other areas."

However, there are now even more innovative measures being taken by those who are looking for an all new way to find a home in a time when it is increasingly difficult to be able to afford to do so.

Confused.com reported recently that there is a building trend in multiple occupancy shared housing (MOSHing) where young people are buying with a friend so that they can split the cost of owning a home.

Though this is becoming a popular method, Mark Hayward, chairman of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said that there are pitfalls associated with such a method of buying properties for sale.

"The easiest thing is that if two friends decide to buy together who currently live in the same area, work in the same area and both have secure employment. If any of those variables change - i.e. their job takes them away or they lose their job - then there has to be a legal agreement in place to say that if this circumstance occurs, then the house will have to go on the market. They will have the opportunity to buy each other out or the opportunity to take on the other's side of the mortgage."

Mr Hayward said that it should be the case that people should always look at how they are protecting themselves against anything that may go wrong before they decide to move into shared accommodation in case of any complications.

He said the ideal situation is to think ahead to the worst possible situation and even rent with a friend for a period of time before buying to make sure that you are compatible as housemates.