First-time buyers are considering taking on second jobs, buying with friends or moving to cheaper areas in a bid to get on to the property ladder, research showed today.

Even though the average home in the UK now costs '145,000, 74% of people who currently rent from a private landlord or live with their parents are still planning to buy their own home.

Just under a quarter of people said they would consider taking on a second job to be able to buy their own place, while 17% would buy a property that needed renovating and 16% would consider buying a house with friends.

Nationwide Building Society found that 14% of people would try to borrow their deposit from their family, 11% would move to an area where they did not know anybody if it enabled them to get on to the property ladder and 10% would take in a lodger to help meet mortgage repayments.

Overall, 38% of those questioned thought they would be able to buy their own home within two years, while a further 23% thought they would be able to buy one within the next three to five years.

Potential first-time buyers are confident about the housing market's prospects, with 42% expecting prices to continue rising during the next two to three years.

But 34% of people who current pay rent think a mortgage would be more expensive, while 25% of those who live with their parents expect to have to pay more if they owned their own home than they would if they rented one.

Jeremy del Strother, divisional director at Nationwide, said: "Affordability for first-time buyers is becoming a bigger issue because salary increases are not keeping pace with rising property prices.

"However, people are finding new ways of getting on the property ladder by seeking to boost their income, by making significant compromises on location or by deciding to club together with friends and family.

"As our survey shows, some borrowers will be tempted to borrow their deposit and take other steps in order to get on to the property ladder. However, young borrowers should not over-stretch themselves in the rush to buy."

People living in London are most likely to consider buying a property with friends, with 21% saying they would do this, while 19% of people in the North would look out for a property that needed renovating.

:: Omnimas questioned 2,143 people face-to-face during May.

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