OUT OF REACH
EXPERTS HAVE WARNED THAT THE HOUSING CRISIS MEANS FEWER PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO AFFORD THEIR OWN HOME
MORE and more adults are leaving it later in life to buy a home as static salaries and rising house prices mean people are having to save for longer.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics show that, in 1997, more than half of people owned a property by the time they were 26.
By 2007, the age at which more than half of people were homeowners had risen to 28.
Fast forward another decade to 2017, and that had climbed to the age of 34. It isn’t for want of trying.
Figures show that just 5.2 per cent of 34-year-olds were still living with their parents in 2017.
Given that most people had actually moved out of their parents’ home, it means the majority were likely to be renting.
House prices and poor salaries are the most likely reasons why only half of people owned a home at this age.
Official figures show that the average cost of a home at the end of 1997 was £76,000.
When that’s adjusted for inflation it means the same home should have cost £131,486 in 2017.
But figures show that the average home would set buyers back by £298,000 at the end of 2017.
While houses prices have generally risen, the average salary has remained fairly constant over the past 20 years. The average salary in 1997 was £16,666. When that is adjusted for inflation, it means a person should have earned around £28,834 in 2017.
The actual average salary in 2017 was £28,600.
Experts say more needs to be done to help get people on the property ladder.
The Help to Buy scheme is a government programme to help get the property market moving.
As long as a buyer has a 5% deposit for a new-build home, the government will top that up to a maximum of 20% of the purchase price through an equity loan.
Dan Wilson Craw, from Generation Rent, said: “With house prices too high, and wages stagnant, it has been impossible for many young adults to save up the necessary deposit. “As a result, most of us are renting well into our thirties, often with kids, in homes we can be kicked out of without the landlord needing a reason.
“As well as building more homes, the government can help right now by scrapping unfair eviction laws, so that the millions of people stuck in the rental market can enjoy a long term home.”