It has always been said that buying a new home and taking out a home owner loan or mortgage is usually the most expensive thing an individuals is ever likely to do and this has been particularly true over the past few years, especially for those people buying for the first time who don’t have any equity from a previous property to help reduce the amount of loan they require.

Over the pat few years, prior to the credit crunch, the percentage of a personas earning which has been used on making their home owner loan repayments has been steadily increasing, pricing many people out of the housing market altogether.

But a new survey conducted by the Woolwich has shown that home owner loans and mortgages are becoming more affordable, as property prices have fallen and lenders introduce new cheap loan rates, due to the low Bank of England base rate.

In December 2008, the average person with a home owner loan was spending around £196 per month on their loan for every £1000 of take home pay they received, but twelve months later, this had fallen to just £157 per £1000 of pay. In real money terms, this means that the average borrower is now paying £110 per month less than they were a year ago, with an average loan repayment amount of £497 per month.

Andy Gray of Barclays bank said “For the 11 million UK households who have a mortgage there is a silver lining to the recession, a substantial reduction in mortgage payments right when they need it most. For them it is a chance to save in a way they might not have been able to before, or to overpay their mortgage and cut years from its life.”