First-time buyers face a difficult climb if they hope to get on the property ladder in Tendring.

With house prices soaring, they would have to be earning more than £23,000 a year to get just a modest flat in much of the district.

This would give you the chance of getting a mortgage of about £90,000, which would get you the average one-bed flat in Clacton.

Young people in Frinton, however, face an even tougher climb, with flats going for about £140,000. This would mean a single income of £36,900 or, if a couple clubbed together, a joint income of £46,700 for a two-bed flat.

In Walton, two-bed flats can go for about £100,000, meaning a single income of £26,000, or a joint income of £33,000.

But Single Rose estate agents in Walton said that there are still some bargains to be had.

Independent financial adviser Simon Dicks, at Mortgage 24, in Wellesley Road, Clacton, said things have got to change.

"It's extremely difficult to get on the ladder. It's a problem for first-time buyers and the market is reaching its top end."

Published Friday January 16, 2004

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