The British dream of home ownership is just that ...
- 95% of Britons expect to won their own home in their lifetime.
- Only 49% of under 35s own property today compared to 59% in 2001.
- Brits are unrealistic about their chances of success in getting on the property ladder.
- Older people are more unrealistic than young people.
- Three million more people will retire in rented accommodation than expect to.
British aspirations for home ownership remains undiminished according to our latest survey, however Brits are unrealistic about their chances of success in getting on the property ladder, and we get more unrealistic as we get older.
We asked 1145 people what their expected housing tenure would be at different points in their life.
Among younger people, 57% expect to have a foot on the property ladder by the time they reach the 24-35 age bracket. With 29 the average age of a first time buyer in 2006 (source CML) this is the key home-buying age. By the time they reach 64, 95% of respondents expect to own their own home, while only one in twenty (5%) expect to be living in private or social rented housing.
Compared to current housing tenure, people are clearly overestimating their chances of becoming homeowners. To a large extent, people's expectations are rooted in the past. In 2001, 59% of 25-34 year olds were homeowners according to the census. Since then, sharply higher house prices have rapidly eroded their ability to buy a home, but not their expectations of success.
In fact, the further into the future people think about their lives, the more they over-estimate the likelihood that they will have bought their homes. Nine tenths (89%) of those surveyed expect to have bought a home by the time they reach 49. However, only 74% of that age group have made it today. 95% expect to own their own home bu the time they reach 65, while only 80% of people of that age today have actually achieved that aim. Warren Bright, Chief Executive of propertyfinder.com said:
The desire to own a home remains deeply ingrained in the national psyche. Neither profound social changes in the way we live, move and work, nor high house prices have diminished Britain's appetite for bricks and mortar. But many people's eyes are bigger than their wallets and they are likely to be disappointed. Indeed people are more unrealistic about their long term likelihood of woning a home than about their immediate prospects.
Given the lower levels of home ownership we are seein gin today's younger population and even allopwing for later inheritance to enable some to catch up, fewer people will be home owners 30 years from now than they are today. Warren Bright concludes:
In future a smaller proportion of people will be home owners than presently. Take retirees as an example. We estimate that qaround 3.1 million of today's over 30's who had expected to retire in their own homes will actually live out their golden yeqars in rented accommodation. Most of these people will find homes in the private rented sector. This heralds a big change in the UK's housing tenure and is good news for the burgoening army of property investors who will see tenant demand extend beyond traditionally younger groups to become an option for the whole population.
