CASH-STRAPPED property buyers should think very hard before signing up to the new mortgage that transcends death, warn financial advisers.

There are better options than bequeathing your mortgage to your children along with your home, they say.

There has been huge media in the "inter-generational" interest-only mortgage which has been launched by Kent Reliance Building Society.

But Poole IFA Lewis & Co's Joanne James said: "There is a better way for cash strapped borrowers to get on the housing ladder.

"They could look at taking a guarantor mortgage with their parents for the first few years, in order to reduce the cost.

"Shared ownership mortgages are also becoming more and more popular.

"Borrowers could also look at extending the term of their mortgage initially.

"This would need to be in line with their anticipated retirement age, but for some first time buyers this could give a mortgage term of 40 years."

Borrowers locally are becoming increasingly desperate. Property prices in Poole are 12.4 times the average income - making it the least affordable place in the UK to buy a home.

Most UK mortgages have a 25-year lifespan but worsening affordability means there is increasing pressure to extend borrowing terms as they do in other countries, such as Japan.

Kent Reliance's inter-generational mortgage allows borrowers to extend the borrowing so long as interest repayments can be met.

Kent Reliance believes its scheme could help cut the amount paid in inheritance tax (IHT) at 40 per cent on any estates worth more than £285,000.

Under the inter-generational mortgage a child inheriting a £400,000 home and a £150,000 mortgage would not pay inheritance tax because the value of the estate passed on would be only £250,000 and below the inheritance tax threshold.

If the full value of the house were passed on, there would be a tax bill of £46,000 (40 per cent of the value of the house over £285,000).

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has warned that children inheriting a mortgage needed to be aware of its financial implications.

CML spokesman Christopher Dean said: "We have not seen this sort of mortgage in the UK before but these types of products are quite popular in Switzerland, Japan and Ireland."