• Renting out a spare room can generate £4,392 a year
• Taking room rental income into account would allow the average first-time buyer to borrow £11,000 more
• 89% of would-be buyers polled support the introduction of Flatmate Mortgages

Banks and building societies are being urged to consider the income borrowers can generate from renting a room out when they calculate how much they will lend.

With the rent from a typical spare room worth £365 a month (with bills on top), the extra income would make a significant difference to how much a first-time buyer could borrow if lenders took it into account. Campaigners say that typically, it could increase the amount people can borrow safely and prudently by 20%.

Flatshare website, easyroommate.co.uk, which is spearheading the campaign, says that without Flatmate Mortgages, nearly a quarter of would-be buyers believe buying a property is impossible, whilst almost a third believe they will have to buy with someone else in order to afford to get on the housing ladder . And 89% of would be first-time buyers polled by http://www.easyroommate.co.uk/ wanted Flatmate Mortgages to be introduced. 351,000 first-timers have been frozen out of the housing market in the last two years because they could not borrow enough . Flatmate Mortgages would have helped many of them.

Average house prices are now 4.9 times the average income. A year ago, it was only 4.3 times . 28% of those polled say they must continue to save every penny to build a deposit.