'˜Generation Rent' have given up hope of buying own home, says Shelter

Three-quarters of people in Britain fear it will be impossible for future generations to have a home to settle down in, a poll has found, as property experts revealed the average asking price of a home has passed £300,000.
Joe Giddens/PA WireJoe Giddens/PA Wire
Joe Giddens/PA Wire

The majority of Britons want to own their own home, but “generation rent” is giving up on getting on the property ladder, housing charity Shelter warns today.

Shelter branded the findings “alarming” and warned the country is at the “mercy of the housing crisis” which has left millions facing a “lifetime of instability”.

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The warnings come as property website, Rightmove, said across England and Wales, the typical price of a property coming to market increased from £299,287 in February to £303,190 in March.

Rightmove said the new record across England and Wales is being driven by momentum spreading across the north and west of the country, rather than in London, which has previously been the engine of house price growth.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said it was time to act, saying: “The cost of buying a home just bears no relation now to what people can afford.

“We are seeing a generation of people now in their 50s or 60s who are looking at their children, and their children will be worse off than they are.”

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Rightmove says average prices hit new records across six regions in March - London at £644,045, the South West at £292,251, the South East at £399,680, the East of England at £326,836, the West Midlands at £204,140 and the North West at £177,437.

While, asking prices in the East Midlands stand at £189,819 - a figure which is just £373 shy of an all-time high for the region.

In Wales, asking prices crept up by 1.4 per cent month-on-month to reach £174,046, according to the latest figures.

The Ipsos MORI survey, commissioned by Shelter and British Gas, found that for recent generations the chance to have a “forever home” has been slipping increasingly out of reach.

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The poll of 1,906 people found 74 per cent of people in younger Generation X and Y said it is harder for them to get a home to settle down in than it was for their parents’ generation.

Mr Robb said: “The fact that vast numbers of people fear their grandchildren will never have a home to put down roots in highlights the sad truth that this country is once again at the mercy of a housing crisis.

He added: “While we have made progress over the last 50 years, our current housing shortage means millions are facing a lifetime of instability and, understandably, people are giving up hope.”