Home ownership in England has fallen to the lowest levels in 30 years, highlighting the vast gap between earnings and property prices. Once most acutely felt in the capital, the problem has now spread across the country, according to a new report by the Resolution Foundation thinktank.
The report, based on analysis of the latest Labour Force Survey, showed that in early 2016 only 58% of households in Greater Manchester were homeowners, compared with a peak of 72% in 2003. In outer London, the peak in ownership came earlier, in 2000, but the fall was also from 72% then to 58% in February. The West Midlands and Yorkshire have also seen double-digit drops, driven by declines in Sheffield and Leeds.
We asked people across the country whether they still aspire to own a home, or if they’ve resigned themselves to renting.
‘It’s impossible to get a mortgage on a single income as a small time self-employed person’
Andy, 44, Devon.
Very unlikely I’ll be able to buy. It’s impossible to get a mortgage on a single income as a small time self-employed person. Even if I could raise some funds, I could not afford what I need, a garden or outdoor space, garage or workshop.
I have always rented, never been in position to buy or expected too. My current situation is okay, but rent plus bills and council tax usually just over half monthly income. Although this is manageable, it is tenuous when self employed and leaves nothing for saving, or holidays.
If I had to move I would expect my rent to go up at least £100 a month. But there is nothing to rent anymore. The housing crisis deepening here in Devon, as it is across the south west. There are villages full of holiday cottages, but nowhere for residents especially young people. Offhand I can think of eleven people aged 18 to 55, including 2 couples, who need somewhere to live immediately.
Houseshare is the best option but it’s complicated when kids and couples are involved, and estate agents are suspicious. Besides, all the larger houses have been done up to sell, so are stupidly well appointed, too expensive, and only ever available on short contracts or with the threat of sale.
Proper revision of housing and planning is needed, with a view to helping people rather than making money. A rewrite of tenancy law, to give some protection to the tenant. A return to council and government funded social housing, both urban and rural, is equally vital. Relaxation of restrictions on, and renewed provision for, alternative homes such as buses, caravans and trucks. Let people help themselves and have pride in doing so.
‘I feel a bit trapped really because the career I want means I need to be here in London’
Rachael, 28, London. Salary: £33,000 a year
It’s funny but my hopes for the future are that one day I don’t have to live in a shared house and can rent a flat of my own. I once dreamed that I’d own a home but living in London and paying back my student loan and masters it’s just completely unrealistic I’ll ever buy here. I feel a bit trapped really because the career I want means I need to be here in London, but buying here is so unachievable.
All of my friends who have bought firstly don’t live in London, not that Surrey is cheap, and are all in relationships; most too had parents help them out either financially or by providing a rent-free home whilst they save. I’m single, and don’t have parents who can help me out, so even renting alone would feel like an achievement. It’s a bit depressing really. I did once hope to own my property but now I don’t care, I’ve stopped caring because it’s just completely unrealistic.
‘We just don’t have the means to raise a deposit alongside paying the rent’
Sam, 28, Nottingham. Salary: £23,000 a year
The current situation is madness, especially given that my partner and I spend more on rent than we would on a mortgage to buy the same property. Unfortunately we just don’t have the means to raise a deposit alongside paying the rent. Neither of us have wealthy families to ask for a gift or loan, and whilst we try to save as much as we can we realise it will take a long time to save the amount needed.
Frankly, if renters rights were ever to be bolstered, with long-term tenancies, protections against eviction and rights to decorate, keep pets, treat the place you’re renting as a home not a hotel room, then I’d probably be content to rent longer-term. But the reality is that lack of security means owning your own home is the only way to be sure of a roof over your head.
For the future, I do hope that we can eventually save the necessary deposit to be able to buy a home. We’ve looked at shared ownership schemes, but these are just as expensive and have a lot of drawbacks. I think we’ll get there, but it’s a long hard road. Alternatively, and rather bleakly, our only other option is falling back on inheritance - but this is extremely unpalatable and not in any way guaranteed.
‘I squat, it’s not secure, but neither was renting’
Ru, 26, Sipson, Middlesex. Salary: £300 a month
At the moment I live in an eco-squat, protest site and I love it, but it’s open and precarious nature isn’t sustainable for me long term. I love the autonomy. When I lived in rented accommodation I couldn’t paint a wall, fix a leak, afford to turn up the heat, but here I can renovate my space and chop more logs for the wood burner.
I’d love to transform a derelict property into a sustainable beautiful home. It pisses me off that people can get mortgages to buy second homes, especially buy to let- when the interest rates go up, the renters suffer. I care about stability- it’s anxiety inducing not knowing where you’re going to live, or relying on parents.
My hope for the future is to get into some kind of eco-cooperative. I enjoy communal living and think it’s better for the planet. I wouldn’t mind being a nomad for a bit, grabbing a van and moving round the country full time, but I don’t like being reliant on petrol, and I want space to grow my own food!
I’m not part of the rental system at the moment. I was, in London, when I left university. I got a job as a zone one receptionist straight away, and a room in a shared house, but so much of my money went on rent that I ended up living this miserable life where I didn’t enjoy the city at all, even the free bits. So now I squat, it’s not secure, but neither was renting. Squatting has been cut off from lots of properties by the introduction of SS144, which banned residential squatting, which is ridiculous given the number of homes that are empty.
‘I have no savings and my wages are too low to get a mortgage’
Marta, 33, Lincolnshire. Salary: £575 a month
I do not see how I will ever be able to own my own home. I have no savings and my wages are too low to get a mortgage. Also I do not really see owning my own home as the ultimate goal. If there was an option of affordable, long-term and fair renting I would be quite happy to rent for the rest of my life. Having a mortgage is risky because things can go wrong if for example you get ill or your relationship breaks down. The fees attached to getting a mortgage are ridiculous as well.
I feel angry and depressed. I am renting privately but was a local authority tenant in South East England before. I actually decided to give up my social housing because it was a new housing estate build in a middle of nowhere with no facilities for my children to play, really bad public transport, no shops or even free cash point.
My privately rented accommodation is owned by a landlord who lives in a different county. He owns a lot of houses in the area but never ventures out to look at them. I tried to get him to change a 14-year-old boiler in the property via one of the government schemes that he could qualify because we are on certain benefits but he just was not interested. This is the same with any repairs you always get ready for an uphill struggle to get anything done.
