Fears that young people are finding it harder to get onto the housing ladder have been confirmed by government statistics that reveal a 4% drop in people under 30 buying with a mortgage between 2001 and 2005. The Survey of English Housing 2004/2005 showed that only 36% of households under 30 had bought a house while those renting has risen to 40%. The survey also showed that the government’s drive to build more high density flats may be misguided since 82% of households live in a house or bungalow and only 17% in a flat or maisonette. The survey also revealed the changing nature of mortgage repayments. Between 1993/94 and 2004/05, the proportion of mortgagors with an interest only mortgage declined from 67% to 27% while the proportion of mortgagors with a repayment mortgage rose from 33% to 64%. The survey said in 2005 there were 14.6 million owner-occupiers in England, 71% of the total, 3.7 million social renters, 18%, and 2.4 million, 12%. The government’s house price index for August 2005 showed the average house price stood virtually unchanged at £186,208 with UK annual house price inflation down to 2.8% from 4% in July 2005. The inflation rate for …