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Rising property prices halt gap year travel

Wednesday, 16 January 2008 12:00 AM

Rocketing property prices have forced university students to postpone or even abandon plans to travel after graduation and concentrate on paying the deposit on their first house.

As average prices continue to rise, students are increasingly unable to justify the expenditure on a round-the-world voyage - preferring instead to save their cash and take the first steps on the property ladder.

According to the latest research from Abbey Mortgages some 42 per cent of students, some 830,000 individuals, are already saving for the deposit they will require as a first-time buyer.

This compares to only seven per cent of graduates who left university in the last ten years who claimed they were able to save cash for a deposit while they were at university.

The number presently saving for a house is also more than double the number, 19 per cent, saving to go travelling and a similar number looking to purchase their first car after graduation.

"House prices have brought in a harsh new reality for students. They now need to weigh up the benefits of travelling against jumping straight into a career and being able to afford to get onto the property ladder," said Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, head of Abbey Mortgages.

"It's certainly encouraging to see many university students are sensibly putting money aside for that important deposit on their first home."

Abbey's research also found, given current property prices, one in ten past graduates who financed a gap year in the last ten years said they probably would not make the same decision today.

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