Borrowers stretched to the limit

But with little hope of the property market crashing, just what is on offer in Shropshire for the average first-time buyer?

Historically, mortgage lenders would offer you three times your annual wage, which today - with the average Shropshire wage standing at £21,000 - wouldn't buy you a Winnebago in Wem.

With the void between salaries and soaraway price tags leaving buyers ever more behind, money lenders are now offering first-timers mortgages of between four and six times their annual wage to help buyers get a foothold on the ladder.

Lenders of such potentially vertigo-inducing mortgages include Alliance & Leicester, Royal Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock, but such loans may be applicable only under exceptional circumstances.

However, most house-hunters will have no problems in securing mortgage offers in the region of five times annual salary.

In my drive for first-time buyer averageness, the scenario is this: I am posing as Mr Average, living on Shropshire's average salary of just over £20,000 who can put down an average deposit of £5,000.

It means that my spectrum of potential homes runs somewhere between £84,000 or, if I'm prepared to risk my arm with a six-times-your-salary lender, £125,000 - give or take a brick or two.

At the bottom rung of the property ladder, with my £5,000 deposit thrown in, the average first timer is looking at £89,000 for a home.

My hunt begins in Shrewsbury where, bang on the money, I can afford a one-bedroomed flat in Walker Close at £89,000. I quickly discover that if I want to borrow four times my wages and live in Shrewsbury I will probably have to live in a flat.

Then, in the property pages, I spot a promising prospect in Middletown with a price tag of just £85,000.

Too good to be true? You bet. The price is for a building plot.

Perhaps it is to be expected, but homes in and around urban districts such as Telford provide far more opportunity to get on to the property ladder for the virgin house buyer.

Tristans estate agents has on the market a three-bedroomed semi-detached in Lancaster Avenue, Dawley, at a rock bottom £75,000 - which at the time of house-hunting is possibly the cheapest family property in Shropshire.

On the day I go searching for properties, Colemans estate agents have a range of homes across the Telford area that might suit the first time buyer's pocket.

But on the county's average wage this would mean them either taking out a bigger mortgage, putting down a bigger deposit or tying themselves into the loan for a longer term. Or all three.

But for buyers who need more space and are willing to take out a five-times-salary mortgage, there are properties out there.

Taking into account my credit rating, a mortgage advisor for DB Roberts in Shrewsbury says there shouldn't be a problem securing a loan for 4.9 times my salary, taking me on to the next rung of the ladder with homes at a fraction over £100,000 within my grasp.

Billed as suitable for a first-time buyer is a large three-bedroomed terraced house with conservatory in Burtondale, in Telford's Brookside estate. Price - £94,950.

Just up the price scale at £98,500 Mr Average can buy a large three-bedroom flat in Woodcroft, Woodside, which comes in at £98,500.

But what is available in south Shropshire, where properties are arguably more sought after if prices are anything to go by? The answer is - very little under £100,000.

Time to stretch to the limit and look at properties for which I would need to borrow the equivalent of six times my annual wage.

In this bracket I am looking at a two-bedroom terrace in High Street, Wem, at £120,000; a two-bedroomed end terrace by Netto in Brook Road, Abbey Foregate, at £124,995; or a one double-bedroomed apartment in Simpson Street right on my limit of £125,000.

Barbers estate agents have a "charming terraced house" in Frankwell close to Shrewsbury town centre on the market at £120,000.

In North Shropshire there are still a few properties for the average first-time buyer to snap up too if he or she is willing to borrow six times their salary.

I look at a three-bed semi in Pitchford Walk, Market Drayton, available through DB Roberts. The catch is it's £129,950.

The estate agent says: "It's a bit above the price threshold but they may come down."

First-time buyers may have few weapons at their disposal, but knocking vendors down is certainly one of them. Not being involved in a property chain is an attractive proposition to vendors and buyers should target homes that have been on the market for a while.

For the first-time buyer, trying to get on the property ladder today can be a disheartening - and increasingly a risky - business.

But there are homes available out there, even if buyers will have to financially stretch themselves a bit higher and aim a bit lower.

By Ben Bentley