Parents squeezed off the property ladder
Published On 6 November 2006
New research indicates that nearly a quarter of the UK’s parents still rent or live with their children’s grandparents, while approaching half cannot afford to get a foothold on the property ladder.The survey for Alliance & Leicester by the Centre for Future Studies found that 23 per cent of the UK’s parents are renting or living with their children’s grandparents.
Close to 42 per cent of parents who do not own their own home would like to be able to buy one, but are unable to afford it, while 55 per cent are not even considering the property market.
Stephen Leonard of Alliance and Leicester mortgages said: “We are currently seeing a shift in our society which will affect the housing market over the next twenty years or so.
“The decrease in the number of nuclear families as a result of divorce could mean an increase in the number of rented households with children as our research indicates,†added Mr Leonard.
The study also indicated that rising numbers of divorced parents could contribute significantly to a forecast uplift in the private rental market, which is set to increase by 39 per cent by 2014.
