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Shelter research shows number of young homeowners will halve by 2020 without “bold and immediate” government action (26 May 2015)

Date: 26/05/2015
Duncan Lewis, Housing Solicitors, Shelter research shows number of young homeowners will halve by 2020 without “bold and immediate” government action

New research from homeless charity Shelter suggests that the number of young homeowners will halve by the year 2020, unless the housing crisis is tackled.

The housing charity says that, if the Conservative government does not “get to grips” with the housing shortage, the number of 25- to 34-year-olds who will be able to get on the property ladder will continue to fall “at an alarming rate” – with less than 50% being homeowners by 2020.

Housing publisher 24 Dash reports that by the end of the decade, less than one-fifth of 25- to 34-year-olds would have made it on to the property ladder – compared with nearly 60% just ten years ago. Over the last ten years the number of young adults in that age group able to afford to buy their own home had fallen by one-third.

Over the same period, the number of private sector tenants in this age group has more than doubled.

A “clipped wing generation” of young adults has also developed, who are forced to live with their parents because of the shortage of affordable homes.

Shelter says that the combination of decades of “rock bottom” housebuilding levels, “sky-high” house prices – and a “broken” private rental market – is creating a “ticking time bomb; which, if left unchecked, spells disaster for an entire generation of young people “hoping to build a stable future”.

Shelter adds that, unless the government takes urgent action to build 250,000 homes which are needed each year, private sector rental tenants will continue to struggle to save for a home of their own – and adults priced out of the rental sector will be forced to live in their childhood bedrooms.

The situation will also impact on thousands of homeless families, who have lost the battle to keep up with soaring housing costs, says Shelter.

Shelter’s chief executive, Campbell Robb, added:

“Our housing shortage has been decades in the making, and only bold and immediate action can fix it.

“No matter how hard they work or save, an entire generation is being forced to watch their dreams of a stable future slip through their fingers, stuck in properties where rents eat up their salaries and short-term contracts leave them with no stability at all.

“Worse still, millions of families are struggling to pay their sky-high housing costs each month, worried whether they’ll be able to keep the roof over their heads at all.

“Voters have used their voices and made housing a political battleground coming into the election.

“Now it’s time for the new government to make good on their promises – not with piecemeal schemes that will only ever paper over the cracks, but with a real plan to build the affordable homes we so desperately need.”

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors

Duncan Lewis housing solicitors can advise private sector and public sector tenants on a wide range of housing matters, including:

• Disrepair
• Housing benefit
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• Landlord & tenant disputes
• Local Authority housing
• Nuisance neighbours
• Section 146 (Notice to quit)
• Section 193 (council’s obligation to house)
• Tenancy agreements
• Unlawful eviction.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide – and Duncan Lewis is also a leading provider of Legal Aid housing advice.

For expert legal advice on housing law, contact Duncan Lewis housing solicitors on 020 7923 4020.


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