Home truths

by opportunistic estate agents. Until incomes realign with traditional home-lending ratios of 2½ times joint gross annual salary, after a 10 per cent deposit, affordability will not be restored to the housebuying process.

The national average income is £27,000, so the maximum average home loan should be £135,000, based on homes valued at £150,000. RICHARD REID, Leicester. PROPERTY prices have rocketed as a result of foreign investors, particularly from former communist countries, whose newfound wealth needed a safe haven.

Because of the vast sums and huge profits involved, the traditional buying and selling practices have been allowed to be disregarded.

Lenders are not involved in these cash transactions and valuations are often made on a drive- by basis by non-chartered valuers instructed