An estate agent says more homes need to be built on empty land to accommodate rising housing needs for young buyers.

Matthew Fish at Harrisons Estate Agents said that the Bolton property market is proving increasingly difficult for some younger Bolton buyers, but mature homeowners have benefitted immensely from rising house prices in the last few decades.

"Baby Boomers" and the older "Gen X's" wealth has grown over the last two decades, compared to the wealth of the younger generation.

The over 50s in the Bolton area have a record £6,595,605,900 in mortgage-free equity, twice as much as the total in 2011, underlining the generational gap in the Bolton housing market.

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Matthew said: “Rocketing Bolton property prices have helped mature homeowners more than ever, while high Bolton house values and expensive mortgages are pricing out some Bolton first-time buyers.

“Compared to those younger, the gap is quite stark.”

Bolton under 50s own £822m of mortgage-free property outright according to Harrisons’ research, with 8.8 per cent owning their own home outright, compared to 6.4 per cent nationally.

But for over 50s in Bolton. 51.5 per cent own their own home outright, compared to 52.1 per cent nationally.

Twenty per cent own their own home with a mortgage.

Campaigners say the younger generation has been priced out of the property market and the goal of getting on the housing ladder has become an impossible dream for many.

Matthew said: “Well, I expect the older generation to be mortgage free.

“It typically takes around 25 years to repay a mortgage fully, and mortgages accumulate over time.

“Consequently, it's unsurprising that older homeowners possess higher ownership and equity.

“Similarly, younger homeowners in the present are likely to accumulate more equity and ownership as they age.”

But younger people often inherit their properties as older people pass away.

Matthew maintains that older Bolton people faced more significant difficulties in obtaining mortgages when they were younger.

The older generation in Bolton tended to lead more austere lives in the 1960s and 1970s and saved more money.

Matthew said: “We need to build more houses – and that requires a willingness as a society to build on land that many might not want to build on.

“Secondly, we need to help older Bolton homeowners to downsize, freeing up their larger homes for younger generations.”