Some 33% of renters aged 25-44 don’t think they will ever own a home, suggesting the future is likely to see more older people in rental accommodation.
The Building Societies Association (BSA) Property Tracker survey also revealed that 43% of tenants said they expected to own a home by this point in their life but haven’t managed to do so.
Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage and housing policy at the BSA, said: “We can’t remove the barriers to homeownership overnight, and there won’t be a solution that enables everyone to get on the property ladder.
“But there is more that can, and must, be done, including regulatory flexibility and government focus on long-term solutions, such as increasing housing supply, rather than short-term demand-side boosts.
“Our first-time buyer reports provide several tangible actions that could be implemented to help fix the broken housing market and in turn support today’s aspiring homebuyers as well as the next generation. Every day that passes without real action raises the number of potential lifetime renters.”
Confidence in the housing market is low, as just 15% of people think now is a good time to buy a property, a decline from one in five (20%) at the start of this year (Jan 2025).
Tanya Elmaz, director of intermediary sales at specialist lender Together, said: “The government doesn’t have a magic wand and changes will take time.
“However, the introduction of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in March, designed to streamline planning permission and speed up house building, and the £39bn cash injection for social and affordable housing at the Spending Review in June, are steps in the right direction.
“The industry is also picking over the outcomes following the Chancellor’s Mansion House speech, which included the launch of a permanent mortgage guarantee scheme providing access to 91 to 95% LTVs.
“However, this low-deposit scheme raises questions of long-term affordability, as borrowers will be paying more over the life of their mortgage, so they must be supported by strong financial advice from brokers.”
