English home ownership has fallen to levels last seen in 1986, with Greater Manchester, South and West Yorkshire and the West Midlands Metropolitan area experiencing double digit falls since their early 2000s peak, according to new Resolution Foundation analysis.
The analysis shows that having peaked at 71 per cent in 2003, the proportion of people owning their own home across England has fallen steadily over the last decade by eight percentage points. It suggests that the widely reported increase in home ownership in 2014 was likely a blip to correct a sharp fall the year before, rather than a welcome reversal of a long standing trend.
The Foundation says that while much of the discussion around the struggle to buy a home has centred on London, Greater Manchester has actually recorded the sharpest fall in home ownership of any major city area in the last decade or so.
CIH chief executive, Terrie Alafat, said the report shows the government must commit to building more homes people can afford: “The research by the Resolution Foundation highlights yet again that the UK is in the depths of a housing crisis.
“The failure to build enough new homes is at the heart of this crisis. We need 200,000 new homes to meet new need and closer to 250,000 to meet the backlog – we are currently nowhere near this level of building.
“We support the government’s ambition to build one million new homes by 2020 but its focus must now turn to providing homes offered for both ownership and rent that people can afford.”
The Foundation says that the shift from home ownership to private renting – which is taking place throughout England, particularly among young people – is concerning for a number of reasons.
The Foundation’s analysis follows an English Housing Survey report, which found that two–thirds of private and social renters cited affordability as a barrier to home ownership. It found also that fewer than one in ten private renters did not expect to purchase a house because they liked it where they were, while just 1 per cent preferred the flexibility of renting to home ownership.
Stephen Clarke, Policy Analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: “London has a well-known and fully blown housing crisis, but the struggle to buy a home is just as big a problem in cities across the North of England. “The chances of owning a home have fallen fastest in Greater Manchester over the last decade, though the Leeds and Sheffield city areas have also experienced sharp drops.
“These drops are more than a simple source of frustration for the millions of people who aspire to own their home. The shift to renting privately can reduce current living standards and future wealth, with implications for individuals and the state.
“We cannot allow other cities to edge towards the kind of housing crisis that London has been saddled with. It’s encouraging that the new Prime Minister has talked about tackling the housing deficit. She may find that making good on this promise could secure as important a legacy as negotiating a successful exit from the European Union.”
