Home ownership out of reach for four in ten tenants

Tuesday 24th July 2012

Home ownership is out of reach for 42% of tenants, who say they cannot afford to save for a deposit at all, and others are unable to save enough.

The average amount saved by the 35% of tenants who do put something by for a deposit is £12,125 – about 7.3% of today’s average house price of around £165,000, rather than the 20% routinely required.

Nearly one-third of tenants are spending more than half their take-home pay on rent, and 35% of those managing to save a deposit are having to dip into it, either regularly or to pay for holidays. Among the under-30s, 60% have used their savings pot.

The statistics are all from the property-sharing website SpareRoom, which also found that 48% of private tenants would be happy to rent long-term if there were less pressure to buy.

The large majority (79%) of those polled described themselves as employed professionals.

While 39% blame the large deposits required to get on the housing ladder, almost a fifth say house prices are simply too high.

A total of 19% of tenants say they will never be able to afford to buy, while 17% think it will take them longer than ten years.

Just over a quarter (26%) say it will take them between two and four years, while almost a third (30%) say it will take five to ten years.

Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom.co.uk, said: “A significant proportion of the people we polled expect to live in rented accommodation for at least five years, and many believe it will be much longer than that.

“The facts speak for themselves. Soaring living costs mean it’s a struggle for many households just to keep their heads above water each month, let alone have enough spare cash to put aside towards a deposit. The survey shows that even those who are squirreling away funds have not managed to save anywhere near enough to buy the property they want.

“What’s clear is that something has to change. House prices need to fall, mortgage lenders need to offer more assistance to first-time buyers with higher loan to value mortgages, and the Government has to accept there is a need for more affordable housing to purchase and affordable rental properties available privately or through housing associations.”