Buy-to-let set to push up prices

Experts fear there won’t be enough affordable housing in the future.

AVERAGE house prices in Surrey are likely to smash through the half-a-million pound barrier in the next five years, according to a new report.

Surrey Advertiser - 19th Oct 2007

Experts have predicted that investors buying homes to rent will inflate prices in the county by 50% by 2012.

Currently, buyers must pay almost 14 times their annual wage to get on the property ladder. The average cost of a home in the county is £335,000.

This means to get a mortgage for an average home, the household income needs to be about £90,000.

The report, entitled Home Truths: The Real Cost of Housing 2007-2012, has been published by the National Housing Federation (NHF), which represents housing associations and registered social landlords across the country - full article