Migration ‘made it harder for young to buy homes’

MASS migration has contributed to pricing the young out of the housing market over the past decade, a thinktank report warns.

The influx is said to have fuelled demand for property, pushing up rents.

And paying out the extra rent cash has made it harder for young people to save for a deposit to get on the housing ladder, according to Migrationwatch. The thinktank accused ministers of ‘indefensibly ignoring or downplaying’ the fact migration was driving demand for homes.

It said: ‘There seems little doubt that population growth, fuelled by immigration, is increasing demand for homes and this will be having an impact on house prices which have increased dramatically in England in recent years, pushing them beyond the reach of many young people.’

In the past ten years net migration – the difference between those leaving and arriving in Britain – has totalled 2.5million. Foreign-born heads of household account for a third of all privately rented properties – up from around a fifth in 2000.

Migrationwatch said rents in England have risen by 23 per cent over the past decade because of a lack of housing supply.

In some parts of London, rent eats up 70 per cent of the main householder’s income.

Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of Migrationwatch, said: ‘While the older generation have been able to sit back and watch their properties shooting up in value, it is younger people who have mainly suffered the consequences with sky-high rents and little prospect of owning their own home. This is frankly indefensible.

‘The time has come for firm measures to address the demand for housing as well as its supply, and to acknowledge and deal with one of the main drivers of demand.’