An end to ‘generation rent’ moaning? Government reveals home-owning boom among young

More young people are ditching their takeaway coffee habit and spurning gym membership to save for a deposit on their first home, the latest English Housing Survey reveals. Help to Buy, record-low mortgage rates and the Bank of Mum and Dad have all evidently helped to boost numbers getting on the property ladder. New government figures show there are now as many 25 to 34-year-old home-owners as there are renters. After more than a decade of decline, the proportion of this age group in owner occupation has risen to 41%, while the proportion in the private rented sector has dropped from its peak of 48% in 2013-14 to 41% in 2018-19. Funding sources According to the latest English Housing Survey, the average first-time buyer was 33, unchanged from the previous year. Most (85%) funded the purchase with savings, while 34% got help from family or friends, and a lucky 6% used an inheritance as a deposit. Joseph Daniels (left), founder of modular developer Project Etopia, says Help to Buy, both the equity loan and the ISA, and Stamp Duty relief are behind the march of the younger first-time buyers powering a recovery in home ownership. However, he warns that falling…

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