A new report issued by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) this week warns that first-time buyers are being priced out of the housing market.

The Rics research shows that an average couple in the bottom quarter of earnings would have to set aside 90 per cent of their annual take-home salaries to meet the cost of a deposit and stand duty on a typical home.

That compares with a figure of 21 per cent just 11 years ago and reflects the growing crisis in the UK's property market.

Even once prospective homeowners are on the housing ladder they will still have to devote 44 per cent of their post-tax wages to mortgage repayments, marginally less than the 48 per cent in 1990 that preceded the UK's last major property crash.

David Stubbs, a senior economist at Rics, said: "First-time buyers are facing an enormous struggle to access the housing market."

He added: "House prices have risen by more than 11 per cent a year since 1996, whereas first-time buyers' incomes have only risen by 3.5 per cent a year."

Last month the Office for National Statistics warned that house price inflation in the capital was causing an exodus of 20,000 people each month.

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Author:  Joanne McCabe

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