A study from
Cambridge University predicts that current economic stagnation will have
long-term repercussions for the potential homeowners of the future.
If the economy remains flat, a mere 27% will
be in ‘mortgaged home ownership’ by 2025. The figure is presently 35%, a
substantial drop from the 43% seen in 1993-94.
As a result,
millions of young families throughout the UK are entering a market where renting
is their only option. Falling wages and banks’ unwillingness to lend are
impacting on families with children who have little or no money left at the end
of each month to save for a deposit.
This has
meant that the number of families renting over the past five years has rocketed
by 86%.
Campbell
Robb, chief executive of Shelter, the housing and homeless charity who co-commissioned
the report, said that these findings highlight ‘what is fast becoming the new
realities of our housing market in the current economic climate: home ownership
continuing to fall while renting becomes a way of life for British families.
