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Vast majority of UK tenants don’t think they can afford to buy

The study shows that just 7.5% of tenants feel confident that they will be able to afford to buy their own property in the future despite the government’s recent initiatives like the Help to Buy scheme, the stamp duty changes and the recent Budget announcement on ISA savings.

Indeed, according to the research from Property Let By Us, two thirds of tenants believe the government is still not doing enough to help them onto the property ladder.

A further 62% of tenants aspire to owning their own home but a massive 87% of tenants feel trapped in their rental accommodation.
 
‘These stats show that many tenants are still unable to afford to buy a property and believe more should be done to help them,’ said Jane Morris, managing director of Property Let By Us
 
She pointed out that recent research from the Halifax shows that homes in a fifth of local authority districts across the UK have increased in value by more than the average employee's annual wages over the past two years. The vast majority of these areas are in London, the South East and the East.

‘In eight local authority districts across the UK, the increase in house prices over the last two years has outstripped the amount someone would have typically earned over the period by more than £80,000,’ she explained.

And she added that according to Rightmove, the average new seller asking price across England and Wales in March was £281,752, some 1% higher than the previous month and £30 below an all-time high recorded in June last year.
 
‘These price rises have made it much tougher for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder in areas where they are renting. Many tenants are stuck in a difficult cycle of saving just enough for a deposit, only to find that prices have risen out of their reach again,’ Morris concluded.

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