It's a tricky enough being single in London as it is – what with the astronomical cost of rent – but the findings of a new report are about to add insult to injury (sorry!). Basically, if you're single it's pretty much impossible to get onto the property ladder in London unless you're willing to save for a very long time. According to the analysis, you could be saving for a deposit for between five and 68 years, depending on which London borough you choose, the Evening Standard reported.

The analysis, by Piggyback Property, compares average house prices and wages for each borough, and the findings made for a depressing read. If you’re lusting after the Made In Chelsea lifestyle and hoping to buy in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea it'll take you 68 years to save for a deposit. The average wage in the borough is £38,000 – way above the national average of £28,000 – and the average home costs £1.3 million. Even in the capital's cheaper boroughs, it would take many years for a single, first-time buyer to get a foothold on the housing ladder. In Barking and Dagenham, for instance, the average house now costs £289,000, meaning it would take someone earning £28,000 five years to save for a 10% deposit. And even then, doing so would involve putting away a fifth of your salary – £466 a month – which isn't possible for many people, who are already often forking out up to 70% of their wages on the privilege of renting, travelling to work, paying the bills and eating to, you know, live. But reducing the amount you save each month to 5% of your wages – £116 – would seriously increase the length of time it would take to get your own place, to 21 years. “These figures show the very real challenge facing those who want to get on the property ladder in the UK," Pippa Watmough, founder of Piggyback Property, told the Evening Standard. "With house prices rising in many cities, and increasing difficulty in growing your savings, it can be easy for people to feel that owning a home is more of a dream than a potential reality."