YOUNG earners in Oldham find it easier to set foot on the home ownership ladder than in most other parts of England.

Access to ownership varies across the region but there are no districts in the North West where it is harder than the average for England as a whole, according to league tables released by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

By comparing average local incomes for earners in their 20s and 30s with the typical price of a less expensive starter home, the analysis shows that around 25 per cent of young working households in the North West would have difficulty affording a modest home.

Nationally the figure doubles to 50 per cent.

The study shows that in Oldham the average price for a four or five-room dwelling in 2002 was £63,624. The working household income was found to be £28,755 giving a house price to income ratio of 2.21.

The 'access to ownership' league for the region varies between Wyre in Lancashire - where 45 per cent of working households under 40 are unable to buy less expensive two-up, two-down homes - to Pendle at the opposite end of the county where only 12 per cent experience the same problem.

Oldham is in between but closer to the Pendle end of the scale and in an area where key workers such as a qualified nurse, teacher, police officer or social worker find those types of homes well within reach.

The research was carried out by Prof Steve Wilcox of the University of York who said: "The good news in most North West districts is that their individual incomes are adequate or very close to the level needed to raise a mortgage on a modest starter home."

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