Being a homeowner is something millions of us aspire to be when we are older. However as inflation as well as house prices rise and the population grows , more and more of us are finding it hard to find the cash to put down on a house. Much of the previous generations before us were homeowners. However in 2019 the level of young adults renting is almost unprecedented at around 55%.
What Has Caused The Decline?
There are many different factors which have played into the decline in the number of us owning homes across different parts of the UK. One of the most prevalent and apparent reasons for the decline has to be the recession which happened just over 10 years ago. During the recession many banks lent money to people through loans and other means. However many traders as well as individuals failed to fulfill these loans and banks across the world ended up having to be bailed out worldwide was cash injections as this was happening across the world. Amongst the fallout of the recession was fraud originating in many cases from stockbrokers and bank investors. Ultimately this lead to many businesses going bust due to lack of demand from consumers who had their bank interest rates as well as finances hit as a result. House prises rose in the wake of this global economic meltdown and people were a lot more hesitant to sell their houses due to the volatile market and mistrust of banks.
Other Factors Affecting The Housing Market
As well as the recession there were other factors which also influenced the housing market for years to come. One of these factors was a government policy known as the spare room tax. This tax lead to people being charged for having a spare room on their property that was unoccupied. Anyone living in the house with a spare bedroom is now obliged to pay additional amounts in taxes due to this. This has put off many potential buyers or tenants from moving into larger houses/accommodation. Although having said this the overall effect wasn’t as serious or impactful as the global recession.
A Lack of incentives and schemes to help people purchase houses has also played a significant role in the decline of people being able to afford properties within the housing market. Although having said this there has been some schemes which have been implemented in order to ensure that more people are able to afford new housing. One of these schemes was known as the help to buy scheme and it was setup by the government to ensure that more young people could afford to put down a deposit on a property. Through this incentive the government would supply a certain amount of money towards people looking to buy properties providing they saved up a set amount each month into account purely for a deposit on a property.
Conclusions
To conclude there a number of different things that can be summarised. It appears that overall the price of housing within the UK has increased. As a result less and less people are investing in newer properties.