‘Hardly any first-time buyers coming through’

To get a greater insight into the market and conditions, Nicola Schutrups, managing director of The Mortgage Hut, spoke about the challenges facing young people.

She said: "As a company, we receive about a 100 new enquiries a day. Before the cost-of-living crisis it was about 50 per cent purchases and 50 per cent reportages, but since then it is about 90 per cent re-mortgages. Purchases have really suffered because people just can't afford to move unless they have to.

"We have hardly any first time buyers coming through. Those that have been saving for a deposit had a figure in mind of how much they needed, and then overnight almost it changed and they needed a bigger deposit or their monthly payments would be unaffordable. I would say they have been affected the most."

In the past the government have introduced schemes to help first-time buyers but there is a dearth of offers available at the moment.

Nicola said: "We are at a point where we have the least amount of schemes available, certainly from over the last seven years, than we have ever had.

"Shared ownership is an ongoing option for people, where you just buy a share in the property and rent the remaining from the housing association.

"That's good because you need a much smaller deposit, the downside is you are then paying rent for the share that you do not own, plus a service charge and ground rent. It can work out more expensive in the long run than buying a whole house."

One of the main issues with getting on the property market is availability of houses and the increase in rent making it difficult to save.

Nicola said: "It's a real conundrum and a tricky situation. I have a 16-yearold daughter and I'm not sure how she will ever be able to afford to move out. It's more expensive to rent than to own, and that's without looking at bills and other expenses."

“It's a real conundrum and a tricky situation. I have a 16-yearold daughter and I'm not sure how she will ever be able to afford to move out