First-time buyers 'are walking the mortgage highwire'

So keen are first-time buyers to climb onto the first rung of the property ladder that they are risking their financial security in order to do so, it has been revealed.

A survey by LV= has found that 15 per cent of young adults are prepared to borrow in excess of four times their annual salary in order to finance the purchase of a house.

Meanwhile, 30 per cent would be happy to do without financial protection insurance in a bid to guarantee the biggest possible mortgage.

Nigel Snell, communications director at LV=, expressed his concern that first-time buyers are gambling so aggressively with their financial futures.

"Home-owning has long been a national passion, and one which continues to cascade down the generations; but what concerns us is just how many younger buyers are prepared to stretch themselves well beyond traditional lending limits without arranging adequate financial protection," he said.

"These were hypothetical responses and we fear that, under genuine pressure to realise their home-buying dreams, many more buyers will choose to walk the mortgage highwire without a financial safety net."

First-time buyers in the south-east are the least fearless, with seven per cent of those polled admitting they would consider borrowing as much as seven times their yearly wage.