Britain to become a nation of renters

A growing number of young British adults are giving up hope of ever owning their own property, fresh research shows.

A startling new survey reveals that while the great majority of young Britons from ‘Generation Rent’ would like to become homeowners, most believe they will be unable to raise the funds required to a get a foot on the housing ladder.

A study by The Urban Collective reveals half of Brits - 51% - think that the property ladder will only be scalable by oligarchs and high net worth individuals in 15 years’ time. 

Almost a third - 29.5% - of renters reveal they do not ever plan on ever buying a home, leaving the notion of Britain as a property-owning democracy in tatters. 

The findings echo to the most recent data from the English Housing Survey which revealed the number of privately rented households has doubled over the past 16 years, from 2 million in 2000 to 4.5 million in 2015/16.

In London, more than a quarter - 28.1% - of all households are now privately rented, up from 13.6% in 2003/4.

The research found that 71% of tenants would be unhappy at the prospect of renting forever, with this figure rising to 84% among Londoners, making them the least likely to be content with living as a tenant for the rest of their lives.

Mayank Mathur, co-founder of The Urban Collective, said: “Fifteen years ago, renting was a stop gap until people could save enough to buy. Today, owning a home is a long-term goal and in 15 years’ time it might just be an impossible dream.

“If we’re going to become a nation of ‘forever renters’ then clearly the experience has to improve. No wonder the thought of renting forever makes Brits so unhappy; to date the rental market has been lagging behind the customer service found in other industries and geared towards serving landlords, not the tenants.”

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