A GENERATION of first-time buyers is being squeezed out of York by roaring house price inflation.

The property boom means two-bedroom terraced properties in the Leeman Road area traditionally seen as one of the cheapest areas of the city are now fetching almost £90,000.

And estate agents think prices, heavily fuelled by investors buying property to let, still haven't peaked.

Now many young people who would traditionally have been York first-time buyers are either renting or moving out to places away from the city such as Barlby, Driffield or Pocklington where prices are still within reach, said Lesley Beattie, of Quantum estate agents.

At the same time, some existing York homeowners are cashing in on the property boom and a great sellers' market by quitting the city and buying bigger, better properties for the same price elsewhere, she said.

In Selby, two-bedroomed terraced homes have soared in price but can still be bought for between £60,000 and £75,000, said Ross Potter, of Selby estate agents Ashtons, who said it was a good buyers' and sellers' market.

In Pocklington, first-time buyers' properties are around the mid-£70,000 mark but rising fast, while at Goole a two-bedroom terraced property can still be bought for £30,000, said a spokesman for agents Clegg and Son.

Ben Hudson of Hudson Moody said: "It's becoming increasingly difficult for first-time buyers, and I don't think it's going to get any easier. It's probably going to get worse."

He foresaw a whole change in the philosophy of home ownership under which social housing would play an increasing role, and in which the traditional first time buyer might almost disappear for good. Some might only be able to afford a home when the value tied up in their parents' property was passed on.

Bob Webb of Churchills said it was becoming "very difficult" for many young people to buy in York, with little property available for much less than £90,000.

Prices had risen 30-35 per cent over the past couple of years and were still rising. "But they are not going up as fast as they were," he added.

The York housing hotspot is in stark contrast to much of Yorkshire and Humberside, which is said in a new report to be the cheapest place in Britain to own a home.

The C and G "housing affordability index" revealed that people in Yorkshire and Humberside spend less of their take-home pay on their mortgages than homeowners across the rest of England and Wales. Only £21.80 out of every £100 in average take-home pay goes on the mortgage in the region, compared to £36.70 in London, £38.70 in the south-east and £34.90 in the south-west.

But Edward Waterson of Carter Jonas, said the figure for the region was skewed by very low price levels for houses in inner-city Bradford and Hull, while there was little property available for less than £75,000 in York.

*Are you a frustrated would-be first-time buyer finding York properties too expensive to buy? Contact Mike Laycock on 01904 567132.

Updated: 08:50 Monday, June 24, 2002