It's no secret high rents are stopping people saving up to buy a house.
It's also not exactly news that even with money saved, finding an affordable home and securing mortgage for it aren't the easiest things to do either.
But what if you didn't have to?
Well, mum of one Kimberly Marren found a way to do just that.
"I was renting in a property worth around £800,000 and I felt so at home there but I just knew it was never really mine," Kimberley, 31, told Mail Online.
A chance encounter led her to consider a radical alternative - living rent and mortgage free by spending her savings on a canal boat rather than a deposit for a house.
She took the plunge - spending £18,000 on a "slightly run down barge" and began the job of turning it into her dream home.
Kimberley gave herself a £25,000 budget, deciding to do the work of converting the barge herself.
"I thought I could do it for £7,000 and that's when I realised there was no plumbing, so that week I went out and bought five pots of paint and began painting," she explained.
"But I quickly realised it needed a lot more work than this internally. It's just when you see something looking nice, you start seeing what the boat could become and it spurs you on."
Friends - both new and old - helped out and she used a combination of found objects, charity shop bargains and her own creativity to build a stunning home.
"Welcome on board to what was once one of my dreams a home made from found items, giving them a second life, charity shop interiors," she announced on Instagram.
"Made lovingly with the help of beautiful friends and with helping hands and advice from a beautiful boating community, her name is SUNSHINE THANKS TO ALL THAT MADE THIS DREAM POSSIBLE."
Kimberly, originally from Somerset, worked out she saves £1,000 a month on rent - money that she's been able to use to improve her dream boat still further.
She has installed solar panels and plans to add a water filter to make canal water usable inside her barge.
And all of it paid off - with the barge fully ready to accept her daughter Willow when she was born.
"The first time we brought her home from hospital it was winter and I was worried it would be cold but it was absolutely fine," Kimberley said.
"It's been challenging at times but she loves it."
