Young adults miss out on homes

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by Kay Murchie

Figures from The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) have revealed that the percentage of young people who own their own property has fallen dramatically.

60% of those aged 25-29 were homeowners in 1993 but this figure has plummeted to 47%. Yvette Cooper, the Housing Minister said these figures reflect the serious national housing shortage which has driven up prices.

House-builders and local councils are being blamed by Ministers for the lack of housing. Ms Cooper said councils in the South-East and Yorkshire have resisted plans for increased housing recently.

She continued that every region requires more homes and councils need to take more action to assist future first-time buyers.

However, many critics believe the Government should be doing more to revitalise the industry. Since Labour came into power in 1997, new house building levels have dropped to their lowest level since the 1940s.

The Government has a target of building 240,000 new homes each year but The National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU) said last week that by 2016 the country would need 270,000 new homes a year, rather than the Government’s current target.