Shock results of a new survey published this week show that a buyer would need to earn more than £20,000 a year to purchase a one-bedroom flat in Braintree or Witham.

That figure would rise to £27,000 a year to pay the mortgage on even a small terraced house. It means that nearly 80 per cent of would-be buyers, mostly young people living with their parents, are unable to move out into even the cheapest homes on the market.

The survey shows that even if they could raise the money, 500 more cheap homes are needed than are being built every year just to keep up with demand.

Survey company DCA said: "On the face of it, very few of these people will be able to enter the local market without gaining access to a significant amount of capital from parents or relatives for their deposits and legal costs."

The company suggests that developers should be urged to build more affordable homes in their developments, up to a third, particularly flats and terraced houses.

No one can predict the future of the market, property industry professionals meeting in Chelmsford heard this week.

Developers, solicitors, estate agents and finance professionals attended an Essex Property Forum debate on the state of the housing market.

Richard Hair, a former vice-president of the National Association of Estate Agents, said property prices in Essex were not rising at the same rate as they were at the beginning of the year, but no one could predict the future of the market, he said.

Low interest rates, low inflation and apparent good job security were helping confidence, and there was still a shortage of supply.

However, he said, people might be concerned if the economy failed or if there were major unforeseen events.

Published Friday November 15, 2002

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