Young families locked out of home ownership for years

A young couple with a child would have to save for over fourteen years before they could afford to buy a home in the South West, Shelter says today.

Research for the housing charity looked at average wages, house prices, rents and spending on essentials to show the challenge faced by those trying to save for a home of their own in the region.

It found that couples without children face nearly eight years of saving across the region, leaving many with the difficult choice between getting on the property ladder and starting a family. Single people face an even greater barrier, with a wait of nearly sixteen years until they can afford to buy.

The situation is severe throughout the region. In Bath and North East Somerset, couples looking to get on the ladder can expect a wait of over fifteen years, in Cornwall just under eighteen years, and almost seventeen years in Devon until they can afford a home of their own. 

The findings come as a separate Populus poll for Shelter shows that 6 in 10 parents across the country believe that young people’s prospects for getting on the housing ladder have worsened over the last few years. For parents with children aged 16-18 the figure rocketed to over 70%. It also revealed that more parents feel housing prospects have worsened compared with other key issues including youth employment and education.

Shelter says that successive governments’ failure to build enough affordable homes has left millions trapped in an unstable and expensive rental market, where saving enough for a home of their own is now just a distant dream.

Anthony and his partner are renting as they try to save up the money they need to get on the housing ladder. But despite both working full time and putting aside savings for years, they still can’t secure a home of their own.

“We really want to buy a home to start a family in.  We’ve been living very frugally - our social life and holidays are on hold for the foreseeable future - and we have managed to save a little bit of money,” says Anthony. “But even as we save for the deposit, house prices are rising faster than we can save. I just can’t believe that despite putting aside every penny we can, we may never have enough money to buy a home.”

With a General Election less than four months away, Shelter is calling on politicians of all parties to commit to building more affordable homes to give young people a chance of a stable future.

Shelter’s Chief Executive, Campbell Robb, said: “Homeownership used to be within most people’s reach, but the rising shortage of affordable homes has pushed house prices up so high that for millions of young people it’s now just a fantasy, however how hard they work or save.

“Parents are right to be worried. The reality is that unless we get a grip on the housing shortage soon, children today could spend decades paying out dead money in expensive rents, or living at home well into adulthood with little hope of planning for their own families.

“Successive governments have announced scheme after scheme promising to help first time buyers, but these have just papered over the cracks. The only way to make sure young people have a hope of a home of their own is for politicians to roll up their sleeves and commit to building enough truly affordable homes.”