Housing crisis is deepening, says HomeOwners Alliance
Number of renters who aspire to home ownership has dropped for first time in five years.
The proportion of renters who aspire to be home owners has started to reduce after several years of rising aspirations, a survey conducted by the HomeOwners Alliance has revealed.
An additional 250,000 renters in the UK gave up on the home-owning dream, its 2017 Homeowners Report suggests, pointing to a worsening housing crisis across the UK.
Among the renters it canvassed 71% said they aspired to own their home one day, down from 73% last year but still more than in 2013 when the proportion was 65%.
The HomeOwners Alliance, which publishes the report jointly with BLP Insurance, says the main barrier to ownership among 86% of renters is house prices, while 85% say saving for a deposit is also a serious concern and 80% say they can’t find a home to buy.
The report highlights how average earnings in the UK have been increasing recently by 2.6% annually, house prices have increased by 4.5%.
Housing crisis
The HomeOwners Alliance says its report reveals a worsening housing crisis that is no longer restricted to just the more crowded areas of the UK such as London and the South East.
For example, 68% of those canvassed in both Yorkshire and Humber and Northern Ireland are worried that, if they bought a home with a mortgage, they were reluctant to buy their first property because they not be able to re-pay the mortgage.
“While we are used to stories about people not being able to buy a home until they are 40, the story has taken a turn for the worse with people increasingly giving up altogether on the dream of homeownership,” says Paula Higgins (pictured), Chief Executive of the HomeOwners Alliance.
But her organisation’s report also contains some good news. Concerns about negative and moving up the property ladder are receding.