Research by the New Policy Institute for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently highlighted the lack of affordable housing availability in the UK, suggesting mortgage costs in relation to first-time buyer earnings are at an all-time high.

More worryingly, as families are increasingly burdened with higher monthly repayments, growing household debts and rising fuel bills, the number of court orders for re-possession has doubled since 2003, emphasising the fact that nothing is as safe as houses – not even houses.

The report claimed that between 150,000 to 200,000 individuals and families become homeless in England each year, with especially high rates in the North, West Midlands and London, but despite this, an estimated 72 per cent of the population aspire to own their own home in the next two years and, in the process often commit themselves to financial risks and investment choices that would have been unimaginable a generation ago.

Keen to encourage a more fluid property market, banks and building societies are now offering home loans over extended periods and encouraging groups of friends and even complete strangers to club together and buy their first home.

The Yorkshire Bank suggests that 27 per cent of first-time buyers are now willing to spread their mortgage payments over 35 to 40 years (as opposed to the traditional 25-year mortgage) just to get onto the property ladder. This is despite the fact that they will pay back three or four times the original value of the house due to the extended years of interest – a move the bank itself does not recommend.

"It's in the best interests of the buyer to be mortgage-free as soon as possible, so they can live life to the full," says Gary Lumby, Yorkshire Bank's head of retail.

According to figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) the average mortgage taken out by first-time buyers in July 2006 was £110,500.

"First-time buyers are continuing to find ways of getting a toehold on the property ladder, showing just how popular home-ownership is to many young people," explains CML director general Michael Coogan. "But higher income multiples, coupled with higher interest payments as a proportion of income, suggests that they are continuing to stretch themselves to do so.

"It is essential first-time buyers, and all borrowers, look at their finances and ensure they are taking sensible steps to ensure their debts are manageable, especially as the markets are expecting a further interest rate rise later this year."

Speaking on plans to increase Low Cost Home Ownership (LCHO) Gordon Brown once said: "The drive to increase home ownership is, in part, a response to the high percentage of people who aspire to own their own home. But it must also be seen in the context of the politics of aspiration. Home ownership is seen to have greatest potential to enhance Britain's status as 'one of the world's greatest wealth-owning democracies'.

"The Britain I believe in is a Britain of ambition and aspiration where there is no ceiling on talent, no cap on potential, and no limit on opportunity. And this Britain of ambition and aspiration is a Britain where more and more people must and will have the chance to own their own homes."

In contrast to the Chancellor's belief that home ownership equates to growing prosperity, however, a look at continental Europe tells a very different story.

In many Western European countries, such as France and Germany, where the level of wealth is comparable or even greater than the UK, the percentage of owner-occupiers is actually less (54.7 and 37.8 per cent respectively, as compared to 69 per cent in the UK). However, in poorer East European countries, such as Albania, Bulgaria and Lithuania, the owner-occupier figure rises into the high 90s.

According to a report published by the housing charity Shelter entitled Home Truths – The Reality Behind Our Aspirations, home ownership does not provide a route out of poverty.

The report states: "Among home-owners are those who are asset-rich but cash-poor, and therefore potentially vulnerable to problems caused by poor housing conditions and poor repair. Elderly people are likely to be over-represented in this group."

With owner-occupying homes making up the largest percentage of housing tenure, it has been estimated that 50 per cent of Britain's "poor" now live in their own property.

Shelter states: "Home ownership is not in itself protection against bad housing. In England, a third of owner-occupied homes fail to meet the Decent Home Standard, although conditions in the private-rented sector are the worst. Failure to provide adequate thermal comfort is the most common reason for a dwelling failing to meet the Decent Home Standard."

The charity believes increased spending on social rented accommodation and not using public money to help first-time buyers to buy property (for example through subsidised housing schemes) is the only answer to alleviating the housing shortage and improving the living conditions of those trapped in bad housing.

"Our research looked at the bigger picture and found that people's first priority for themselves and their children in Yorkshire and the Humber is not home ownership – but having a safe, decent home they can afford," says a spokesman for the charity.

Although socially-rented accommodation is often stigmatised, those who rent from the council or a housing association often value the benefits it offers.

And as house prices continue to rise, the rental "choice of tenure" may soon be the only "choice" available to the majority of first-time buyers.

How far this housing crisis will go remains to be seen, however some mortgage experts believe it won't be long before we start to see Japanese-style 100-year mortgages, passing the debt of property ownership across two or even three generations. Talk about leaving the children something to remember you by.

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