Londoners unable to afford to

 

buy a home

 

Soaring London house prices mean residents of the capital are increasingly becoming unable to afford to buy a home.

                                                                                                                   

Research from Mform.co.uk shows just 61 per cent of Londoners own their own home compared with the national average of 65 per cent.
                                                                                                                             

And there is increasing evidence of a north-south divide - with more than 70 per cent of people in Lancashire and 71 per cent of those in Yorkshire owning their house or paying their mortgage and 67 per cent of those in Scotland doing the same.

"The north-south divide is traditionally about the well-off south and the poor north. But in home ownership it is the south – and particularly London – which is suffering," said Mform chief executive Eamonn Rice.

Figures from Rightmove.co.uk show in the last year the average asking price in the capital has risen 23.6 per cent to £355,097. By contrast, over the same period asking prices in the north of England have risen just 5.7 per cent to stand at £150,661.

"With average asking prices for homes in London at more than £350,000 something has to give and it is people trying to get on the housing ladder who have to give up and look outside the capital," said Mr Rice.

"Those who are lucky enough to have got on the housing ladder might think they are sitting pretty. But they need to think carefully about how they can afford their mortgage and should be making efforts to cut costs where possible."  (myfinance.co.uk)