Ask any baby boomer or 'Generation X' home owner how they bought their first home and they'll tell you what a doddle it was then compared to today.

This is a widely accepted truth that drives the housing debate. It's why billions have been spent on Help to Buy, first time buyers were exempted from Stamp Duty up to £300,000 and the 'bank of mum and dad' is now the UK's ninth largest lender.

But is it really that difficult to get on the property ladder? Firstly, let’s look at the two key claims made about housing affordability.

'It's more difficult to afford a first home'

This is largely true, unless you have rich relatives. House prices have shot up ten-fold since the first Millennial was born in 1980, and doubled since the first Generation Z popped out in 2000. In 1980 first time buyers had to borrow 1.7 times their salary on average but today it’s 3.4 times salary.

This can mean chunky deposits. For example, Shelter recently claimed that the average first time buyer pays a deposit of £46,000.

But dont' be disheartened; these kinds of reports can be misleading because they include London and the SE in their figures where house prices are double the UK average. And remember that a lot of people DO become first time buyers; last year 370,000 of them got on to the property ladder, the highest level since 2006.

Deposits as a percentage of house price hasn’t changed either; it’s held steady at approximately 14-15% for the past decade. The problem is that house prices have continued to rise, which means deposits are getting much larger. This is causing problems in London and a few other big cities.

For example, the average price of a first time buyer property in the capital is £509,500, which if bought using a 15% deposit would require a deposit of £76,425, a huge sum to save up or blag off your parents by anyone’s standards.

'Mortgages have become more difficult to get'

This is true too - after the financial crash in 2008 the government’s financial watchdog introduced much stricter criterial for mortgage lending including about who they lend to and how they lend the money.

Lenders used to only look at salary multiples or how many ‘times’ your salary the loan was. But lenders must now concentrate on whether you can afford the monthly mortgage payments if interest rates were to go up.

'Arghh. I'll never get on the property ladder'

Faced with some of the challenges outlined above, some people give up ever getting on the property ladder. But there are plenty of things you can do to help.

• Buy in a super-affordable area that has the potential to be tomorrow's hot neighbourhood one day. It might mean a longer commute or living in a less fashionable area, but it's better than renting, isn't it?

• Sign up to CreditLadder to ensure your rent payment each month builds your Experian credit history, shows potential mortgage lenders you could afford your monthly mortgage repayment and raises your chances of getting the best rate.

• See if you eligible to use the government's Help to Buy scheme but hurry, it's due to end in 2023.

• Start saving for your deposit via one of the two Individual Savings Accounts (or ISAs). It's crazy not to - the government chips into it every time you save money into them.

CreditLadder can help you improve your credit score

If you want to improve your credit position by reporting your rent payments, CreditLadder is the only way to improve your credit score and position across all four of the main Credit Reference Agencies in the UK, namely Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Crediva. Building up a high credit score has a lot of benefits, including helping you access finance at better rates - this can also help save you money.

CreditLadder also runs a free mortgage application service in partnership with Tembo which will tell you how much you could borrow.

Remember the information provided in this article is for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice.