More evidence that young people want to buy - but expect to rent

Large proportions of younger people want to own a home but increasingly feel they simply cannot afford to buy - and may remain in that position forever. 

Research from Yorkshire Building Society shows 49 per cent of non-home owners aged 35 to 40 think it ‘unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely’ that they will ever own a property.

However the survey, conducted by NatCen Social Research, found that more than two thirds of all young adults - defined as being aged 18 to 40 - felt that owning their own home was crucial to feeling that they had succeeded in life, as well as a source of social and financial security.

Almost half - 45 per cent - didn't think they were earning enough money to be able to buy their own place, while a similar proportion worried they wouldn't be able to afford mortgage repayments. Two out of five complained that they could not raise the deposit while around 10 per cent claimed that lack of job security was preventing them from pursuing their dream of owning their own home.

Almost a third of non-homeowners aged 35 to 40 have given up on ever buying, saying that they don’t think they will ever be able to afford to buy. The building society says this is equivalent to around half a million people across the UK expecting never to be able to afford to own their own home, unless there is a dramatic downward shift in house prices.