The English Housing Survey, more help for under 35 year-olds needed

The English Housing Survey published today highlights two important issues, a decrease in the proportion of homeowners under the age of 35 and that mortgagors spend a smaller proportion of their income on housing costs than other tenures.

The proportion of home owners under the age of 35 is now down to 9%, half of what it was two decades ago. Particularly in London, the cost of homes is generally beyond the means of this age group. The homes that do come to the market are either quickly lost to it by not ensuring affordability or are quickly bought up as there are too few being built for this generation to access.

The survey goes on to report that mortgagors spend only 19% of their joint incomes on housing costs compared to 46% by those in private rented homes. Mix’s offer illustrates what can be done to increase the amount of affordable homes as well as make those homes more affordable by providing tiered, fixed shared equity, home ownership.

More needs to be done to ensure the longer term affordability of homes is protected as well as supporting housing developers who are targeting this market by providing them with development opportunities.

References
National Statistics – English Housing Survey 2016 to 2017: home ownership – July 2018