Young House Buyers Priced out

A huge generational wealth gap is opening up in Britain, with people aged under 34 faring the worst because they can't get on the property ladder.

A report by the Bank of England says that older people have seen their net worth soar in the past 10 years, largely as a result of booming house prices.

The average wealth of someone aged over 65 has increased from £40,000 in 1995 to nearly £100,000 10 years later. But it's left the younger generation struggling to catch up and unable to get a foothold on the housing ladder.

Now, 18 to 24 years olds have on-average virtually no recorded wealth, while people aged 25 to 35 now have assets of under one thousand pounds.

And other figures out this morning suggest there's little sign of a slowdown in the property market. The website Rightmove says prices rose by more than 12 per cent in the last year, taking the average cost of a home to nearly £230,000 pounds.

Average asking prices rose by 1.5% (£3,381) last month as the spring market strengthened
and shrugged off fears of another interest rate rise.

The increase provides further evidence of the resilience of the housing market, with buyers continuing to trade in spite of new record price levels, three interest rate rises and the threat of another in the pipeline. It now appears the continued shortage of supply has more than compensated for the impact of the January rate rise.

Compared to a year ago, buyers face prices that are £24,784 higher, an annual increase of 12.2%, up from 11.5% in February.