Britain to become 'nation of renters'?
Owners of buy-to-let properties could see demand from tenants continue to increase over the coming years, according to new research from Halifax.
A poll by the building society suggests that the UK housing market is undergoing a shift away from home ownership and towards renting.
Although 77 per cent of those surveyed said they still aspire to one day buy their own home, nearly half of 20 to 45-year-olds say Britain is becoming more like Europe where renting is seen as the norm, and predict Britain will become a nation of renters within the next generation.
Furthermore, nearly two-thirds (64 per cent), of non-homeowners currently believe they have no prospect whatsoever of buying a home.
It appears that, as well as high house prices and squeezed finances, a major barrier to home ownership is a perceived lack of access to lending for first-time buyers.
Some 92 per cent of those polled said they see it as hard for first-time buyers to get a mortgage, with 60 per cent seeing it as very hard or virtually impossible.
Meanwhile, 84 per cent say first time buyers are put off by a belief that banks do not want to lend to them and find excuses to turn them down.
This situation is likely to mean owners of buy-to-let properties see further increases in demand from tenants.
According to a recent report from mortgage provider Paragon Group, demand is already on the up, with its research showing that almost half of landlords saw a rise in demand during the first quarter of the year.
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