‘Rental trap’ catches generation

If those attitudes become reality, the shape of the region’s housing market will be fundamentally changed within a generation.

According to the study, the most in-depth research into the attitudes and behaviour of young people toward home-ownership since the credit crunch, about three quarters (77 per cent) of all non-homeowners in Yorkshire still aspire to owning their own home.

But nearly half of people aged between 20 and 45 say the county is becoming more like Europe where renting is seen as the norm, and predict Yorkshire will become a nation of renters within the next generation.

Commissioned by Halifax and produced by the National Centre for Social Research, the study analysed the results of a survey of 8,000 people in this age group and identified what it called the emergence of “Generation Rent”, with around two thirds of national non-homeowners believing they have no prospect whatsoever of buying a home. In Yorkshire, the level of pessimism is even higher.

The perception that banks are not lending, the size of mortgage deposits necessary, and a fear of the application process has prevented this group from making any significant attempts to buy a home.

Longer-term, only four per cent of this group in Yorkshire are making sacrifices to save for a deposit. A total of 96 per cent say they have no spare cash, no interest in saving for a deposit or were trying to save but failing to do so.

Report author Alison Blackwell said: “The phenomenon of Generation Rent could have major socio-economic implications.

“It would mean fewer homeowners being able to buy and therefore fund the construction of the new homes required in the UK to meet demand, resulting in a slowing down in the housing market.

“It could open up a widening of the wealth gap that already exists between home-owners and non home-owners. And people in Generation Rent risk insufficient finances at retirement.”

Another study by Santander Mortgages showed that two million young homeowners are unwillingly stuck in properties with little hope of moving in the next two years.

The findings revealed that of the 53 per cent of homeowners aged between 18 and 34 who would like to buy a new home within the next 24 months, almost half (44 per cent) think it is unrealistic that they will be able to.

But there was even gloomier news for the young in a report for the charity Shelter, which suggests they are being robbed of the opportunity to lead full independent lives because of sky-high housing costs.

Shelter said astronomical property prices were damaging the emotional, social and professional lives of 18 to 34-year-olds, and preventing them from growing up.

The research found that 22 per cent of young people have either been forced to move back in with their parents because they cannot afford to rent or buy their own home, or have never left the family home in the first place.

Some 20 per cent of the group are delaying having children until they can afford their own place to live and most shockingly, 31 per cent of people admitted they were stuck in a relationship they did not want to be in due to high housing costs, or said they knew someone who was in this position.

Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb said: “It used to be the accepted path for young people that you grew up, moved out of the family home and started a life of your own.

“What this research shows is a fundamental shift in society, with young people today unable to make the same life choices as their parents and being robbed of the opportunity to lead full and independent lives.”

Living ‘extended youth’ makes grown-up sense: Page 11.