Renters Forever - the Guppies have Given Up on Proper...

A personal finance expert has revealed that a new group which he calls Guppies are reconciled to possibly renting forever.

Alan Davison, a director at finance firm Together, says new Zoopla research suggests that the cost of living crisis has created a new breed of under-40s known as 'Guppies' - young professionals who have 'Given Up on Property'.

He says: “The research findings from Zoopla come as no surprise; the past few years have not been easy for the majority of people in Britain.

“The cost-of-living crisis, paired with continually high inflation and interest rates have left many despondent about their financial situation, and now these findings suggest many fear they will never be able to buy their own home.

“Our own residential research found that one in five respondents have never intended to apply for a mortgage and 17 per cent stated that affordability of monthly payments was a key roadblock to homeownership. Zoopla’s research has named this cohort the ‘Guppie’- those who have ‘given up on property’.”

Separate research, by lettings agency Benham and Reeves, shows that solo buyers in London need to increase their income by vast amounts if they want to be in with a chance of securing a mortgage in the current market.

The research shows that the average London house price is currently £525,629. A typical 20 per cent deposit means the initial down payment comes to £105,126, leaving £420,503 to be covered by a mortgage.

The average mortgage provider will lend up to 4.5 times a buyer’s income which means the average solo buyer must earn at least £93,445: in reality, however, the average London salary is just £44,190, meaning that, in order to afford the average London home, buyers need an annual salary increase of 111 per cent.

The dubious honour of least affordable borough goes to Camden.

Here, the average house price of £860,920 is significantly cheaper than in Kensington & Chelsea, but the average borough income of £48,707 is also far less and results in a Camden earnings gap of 214%. This makes it the least affordable of all London boroughs.

The agency says that the brutal truth is that solo buyers in every London borough require a much higher income if they’re to secure a mortgage.

Wandsworth is home to the smallest affordability gap and even still, the average person would need 72 per cent pay rise to secure a mortgage on the average home there.