Scottish first-time buyers facing 'unaffordable' housing

www.moneynews.co.uk > Mortgages > Scottish first-time buyers facing 'unaffordable' housing

Scottish first-time buyers facing 'unaffordable' housing

Fri 5th Jan 2007

First-time buyers in Scotland are finding it increasingly hard to get a foot onto the property ladder with house prices continuing to rise.

Bank of Scotland has released a list of the least accessible areas in the country for first-time buyers with three East Lothian towns Tranent, Musselburgh and Prestonpans among the areas most problematic in terms of first-time buying.

The top three least affordable towns in Scotland were found to be Helensburgh, Edinburgh and then Tranent, which has an average house price of £166,650 compared with a first-time buyer income of £25,654.

Tim Crawford, an economist at the Bank of Scotland, commented: "First time buyers in Scotland are finding it increasingly difficult to climb onto the property ladder with the average house price paid by a new buyer entering the market now above £100,000."

Elsewhere in the UK, London's house prices grew by 11.3 per cent during last year which has led Nationwide to predict that the price of property may again rise this year.

Related News : Mortgages
	Brits 'failing to grasp the importance of an interest in mortgages'
	BBA highlights mortgage lending growth
	Are interest-free mortgages a bad idea?
	Buy-to-let mortgages are 'more profitable'
	House price performance to impact lenders' criteria
	More Brits 'to choose long-term mortgages'
	Offset mortgages 'are the future'
	UK house prices 'set to fall'
	Hybrid mortgages 'are a good deal' for FTBs
	UK public expects house price increase