Young people less interested in owning their own home
There is an unsurprising and yet saddening conclusion to a new survey of the
UK housing market. The results show that the aspirations to home ownership among young people have declined since the start of the recession.
The wording of the question was aimed at finding out the percentage of younger people who think that owning their own home would be the “ideal living situation”. In the past year this percentage has fallen.
Generally speaking, the poll has found that people do aspire to owning their own home and this was confirmed again this year. Some 70% of people asked said they thought that homeownership was a good long-term investment.
However, in the 25 to 34 age bracket, the proportion who believed that owning their own home was the ideal living situation fell from 83% a year ago to 69% now.
The not-for-profit Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) surveyed 2,028 people ahead of its annual conference. These included homeowners, tenants and people living in social housing.
The survey also demonstrated that negative equity is a source of concern for many.
The CIH is calling for renting and ownership to be considered as equally viable alternative for the younger generation amid fears that the pressure on young people to own their own homes is pushing them into making the wrong financial decisions.
There is a point in this, any pressure on people to make the wrong financial decisions should be resisted. However, a balance needs to be struck.
For many people owning their own home is a sound financial investment that will reap rewards for the rest of their lives. It seems to me that the problem uncovered by the CIH is more about people making the wrong mortgage decision.
As ever, the advice must be not to rush into any major financial decisions. Certainly don’t make any decisions based on a feeling that you ‘should’ own a house. But if your circumstances are right the switch to mortgage payment rather than rent payment each month can make real financial sense.
