Amazingtrade

You asked

Is it worth buying a house in a cheap and maybe rough area just to get onto the property ladder?

The answer is ....if the only alternative is to rent then yes.  The hardest part is to get on the property ladder and from then on it is a lot easier to crawl up the greasy pole.

I bought a house 8 years ago in the red light area of Swindon. I paid £38,000, today it would easily fetch £120,000, even with  a drop in prices. Even better is that the good old EU has decided to spend £1 million of the taxpayers money in gentrifying the area, so that will push prices further up.

The tenant has paid me a total of £45,000 in rent so it speaks for itself.

Don't think, just do it.  This is the best advice you will ever get on this forum.

Regards