27^th Jun 2018

According to new research from an insurance company, more than two thirds of UK tenants are resigned to never being able to become homeowners and will eventually 'mirror' the German housing market.

Latest statistics shows that the UK is only above Denmark, Austria and Germany in owner occupied homes and the general consensus of opinion is that future generations will rent homes all of their lives.

First time home buyers in 2017 were on average paying £207,693 which is more than 50% higher when the average price was £138,663.

Obviously the prime reason for a 'life of renting' is the potential cost of stepping onto the property ladder; however 22% felt that the financial burden was of no interest to them.

12% said that they preferred to remain fluid to move for personal and career reasons and that having their own home would not allow this, and 9% wanted to be free to travel.

A further 22% of those planning to remain UK renters said that maintaining their own homes would be expensive and too off putting and preferred landlords to deal with those types of issues.

Surprisingly the data shows that London's populace will spend the least time renting before buying their first home and the average Londoner plans to spend less than twelve years renting before purchasing their own home; the UK average is 15 years and two months before tenants become homeowners.

The West Midlands has the lowest percentage of people renting a home at 21% whilst Scotland is the highest at 43%.

Business Manager of the business arm of the insurance company, Christina Dimitrov, said: ‘The UK housing market continues to change and we are seeing a major attitudinal shift when it comes to renting. While price is a factor, many people are increasingly comfortable with the flexibility afforded by renting a property rather than jumping into home ownership. In line with the greater demand for rental properties, the Government has introduced tougher controls and regulation. Recent legislative changes mean landlords have stringent guidelines to adhere to in order to ensure the health and wellbeing of their tenants. It is important that landlords ensure all of their properties are adequately insured to minimise distress to them and their tenants should something go wrong."

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