Mortgage lending reached record levels in 2001, fuelled by a buoyant housing market, said the Council of Mortgage Lenders in its annual report, published last week.
But the rampant housing market means young people no longer feel they can afford to buy a first home.

Lenders hold 11m mortgages, amounting to £600bn in value. The lenders' body reported that new mortgage funding rose by 34 per cent to £161bn.

But the recent surge in property prices has resulted in a quarter of young people worrying that they will not be able to get a foot on the property ladder, a study by building society Birmingham Midshires has found.

It said that spiralling property prices are the single biggest concern of people in their early twenties.

After Greater London, the problem is most acute in the north east, Yorkshire and Humberside and Wales.

A spokesman blamed traditionally high unemployment in these three areas, saying: "Whether there is a job there to pay for the house would appear to be the worry."

Source

Housing Today