The proportion of young people owning a home has fallen since the financial crisis and there is little sign of improvement, ONS data shows.
Analysis by the ONS found those aged 22 to 29 years old have become less likely to own a home, with the proportion of homeowners having fallen by 10 percentage points between 2008 and 2017 – from 37% to 27%.
There is also little sign of them becoming financially stable, with 53% of this cohort having no money in a savings account or ISA, compared with 41% between 2008 and 2010.
However, those who did had an average of £1,600 put away, up from £900.
Commenting on the figures, Ross Boyd, founder of online mortgage adviser Dashly, said: “For home ownership levels among those in their twenties to have fallen by 10% in less than a decade is a brutal reminder of the struggle young people face getting onto the property ladder.
“With house prices in so many areas of the country out of people’s reach, the transition from generation own to generation rent is accelerating by the day.
“To rub salt in the wound of many young people today, monthly rental payments are often considerably more expensive than the equivalent mortgage payments would be.
“This partly explains the increase in the number of people with nothing in a savings account. With inflation above target for so long, and rents so high, many young people have nothing left to put aside.
“Unless you’re fortunate enough to be able to cash a cheque from the Bank of Mum and Dad, finding the deposit required to buy a new home can be an insurmountable challenge, all the more so if you are paying off debt from university.
“In just a decade, the dynamic of home ownership in the UK has changed irreversibly. If this is to end, then something fundamental has to change, and mortgage lending itself has to evolve.”
These stats are typical for the generation of ‘I want it now and if I don’t get it I’ll go to social media’
30 years ago, 8% of A level students went onto further education in the form of Uni or Poly. Now its 25%. Yes there are student loans but there are so many more with those aspirations and of course who also want a gap year travel adventure. All of these things add up to draws on finances and reserves and it is not a single reason problem. More council house are being sold through Right to Buy than are being built. Social housing requirements rise due to that imbalance of supply. The population is bigger, but so are the numbers of divorces, creating 2 households out of what used to be 1 family.
The Local planning surveys highlighted the need for housing for children and grandchildren in locations near to families…but this is in part is due to diminished financial ability following a divorce and children/grandchildren needing grandparents to help with child care. There are lots of related reasons…not just these sensationalist headlines.
Here’s the radical solution…all property owners should slash their expectations of value 50%…that would make it more affordable…and of course the mortgagees would support that, or do we build 65 million houses so everyone has 1 each.
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