Young professionals fear they will never be able to own their own home in Manchester’s booming housing market.

Despite working long hours and trying to put money away every month, some like Lucinda Quinn, are losing all hope of ever buying their own home.

Lucinda, 25, moved to Manchester three years ago but despite earning more than £20,000 she is still finding it impossible to save enough money to buy her own home.

After researching different parts of Greater Manchester Lucinda discovered she would need a deposit of at least £10,000 - which she says is a pipe dream.

(Image: Lucinda Quinn)

“I’ve been struggling to get onto the housing ladder and have resigned myself recently to the idea that I’ll never be able to afford to buy a house in Manchester, or potentially one at all, even in my home city of Liverpool which is comparatively much cheaper,” she says.

New research from the Resolution Foundation suggests she is not alone found that home ownership in Greater Manchester has fallen from 73 per cent in 2003 to 58 pc in 2016.

And at the same time the proportion of private renters in the region has more than tripled, rising from six pc to 20 pc.

Young professionals like Lucinda are now trapped into paying thousands a year in rent.

She added: “I always prided myself of being good with my money and being able to save. I moved to Manchester back in 2014 after finishing university, in order to start my career, and have managed to secure a number of pay raises in that time.

“Unfortunately, I’ve not really been able to feel the benefit of that, and been able to save for a deposit like I thought I might be able to; I still save, but the amount I can save month to month never seems to be enough.

'Renting has become more and more expensive'

“Since moving to Manchester, renting, particularly in house shares has become more and more expensive, meaning even after pay rises, and with the increased cost of living there has been in the past few years, I’m in the same precarious financial position I was in before, which just leaves you feeling like a failure.

“At this age, my mum was a homeowner, and had a comfortable lifestyle, disposable income, living the life of a ‘proper adult’. Until a few months ago, I was living in a bedroom with the house’s washing machine in it.”

(Image: Joel Goodman)

Long term renting also brings a great deal of instability, which is a big driver in Lucinda wanting a place of her own.

Since moving to Greater Manchester three years ago she has moved house six times, which has made it even more difficult to save

She said: “I didn’t know anyone before I moved to Manchester, so I moved into a house share, which is essentially a group of strangers who you might not actually get along with.

“At the moment it is all up in the air and I am always ready to move at a moment’s notice; the landlord could come round and ask for more money - which has happened to neighbours - or decide to sell the property because they can get more money that way, which means I have to move.

“At the moment I am resigned to renting, so i just have to go with that and hope that eventually I will be able to buy a place for myself.”

And Lucinda is not alone.

According to research from campaign group, Housing the Powerhouse, 84 per cent of 24 to 35 year olds in Greater Manchester want to buy their own home.

In the same study however, more than 50 pc of people know someone who is struggling to do just that.

Mark Shaw, 29, from Gorton is another one of those who is finding it increasingly difficult to get his foot on the ladder.

(Image: Mark Shaw)

The average house in Gorton is priced at around £96,000 which means that for a 10 pc deposit, like Lucinda, he will need to save around £10,000 to get on the ladder.

Earning around £20,000 he says that renting just isn’t an option.

Unable to afford to both rent and save, the business developer is now living at home with his parents in order to save up.

He said: “Where I live there are a lot of terraced houses and they are generally the cheapest homes to buy but what happens is investors buy them and then rent them out, which drives up rent in the area.

“They are all just being snapped up by landlords and I can’t pay £500 or £600 a month on rent and still manage to save to buy a home on my own.

'If you are on your own it's really tough'

Mark even says that Help to Buy is no use to someone in his position.

“I just don’t really see any incentive in the Help to Buy scheme to be honest; you end up having to pay the money back anyway, so I would rather pay a larger amount now and have smaller monthly repayments.

“If you are on your own then it is really tough because you can go into private rental and lose money or stay home and wait until you can buy; I just can’t afford to rent and save.”

After falling in love with Manchester more than five years ago, procurement specialist Gerard Saint-Etienne, 36, decided to stay put.

(Image: Gerard Saint-Etienne)

He finds himself in a similar position to countless others, even with a 5pc deposit he holds no hope of owning his own home.

With the average house price in Prestwich between £180,000 and £210,000 Gerard would still need almost £10,000 for a deposit.

With an income of £20,000 he says that even properties in cheaper areas are still out of reach he would also struggle to save enough for a deposit of £6,000 to £8,000.

Since moving north from Leicester, he has found himself paying hundreds of pound on rent and says it is a struggle to save enough each month.

Currently renting a one bedroom flat in north Manchester, Gerard does not believe he will ever be in a position to buy a home.

He said: “I am not even close to buying my own home.

“I have always wanted to own my own home, looked in estate agents’ windows and brochures etc. but I am put off by the prices; you need to have a massive wage to be able to afford your own place.

“The deposits are really difficult to save for as well; I don’t think I have ever had enough money in my bank account, at any one time, to be able to afford one.

“I don’t believe that I will ever be able to own my own home; I would need to be earning a lot. Even if I buy with a partner, if we are both on similar incomes then we will still be saving for some time.”