Mortgage
Home ownership in England is at its lowest level in 30 years iStock

Most renters in the UK believe they will never be able to afford their own home, a fresh survey has suggested.

A poll of nearly 15,000 people across 15 countries by Ipsos and ING revealed that 56% of Britons are pessimistic of their chances of ever owning property.

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The UK share is the joint-highest in Europe along with Germany and ahead of countries such as Spain, Italy and France.

Average house prices in the UK rose by 5% compared to a year earlier in August to £226,000 ($298,000), raising the difficulty of property ownership for first-time home buyers who are already battling high inflation.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics revealed disparity in house prices across the UK, with the biggest increases recorded in the north west of England, east Midlands and the east of England. London had the slowest regional increase in August at 2.6%.

First-time home buyers were dealt a further blow after the Bank of England voted to increase its benchmark interest rate to 0.5% from a record low of 0.25% last week, raising the average cost of a mortgage.

Home ownership in England is at its lowest level in 30 years, with rising house prices and the difficulty of saving a deposit locking out millions from the housing market.

A separate study done by KPMG said the London housing market will recover from its current slump over the coming three years, although some of the pricier boroughs are predicted to fare worse than others.

Richmond, Kensington and Chelsea are among the boroughs that are expected to experience slower growth, mainly as a result of the number of EU nationals leaving the UK due to Brexit.

"Despite the recent cooling in the London housing market, our projections are for cumulative price growth to remain positive over the next three years," said Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK.

"Boroughs such as Hackney and Lewisham are among those expected to enjoy the strongest growth, while the likes of Richmond and Harrow are not likely to perform as well."

UK Housing Bank of England