Home ownership has fallen to its lowest in 30 years across all major English cities – not just London
Home ownership has fallen to levels last seen in the UK in 1986, a major new report has revealed – and it's not just in the capital where it's hitting hardest.
The report, by think tank the Resolution Foundation, showed the proportion of Britons owning their own home has fallen eight percentage points since it peaked at 71 per cent in 2003.
And while much of the focus on the problem of falling home ownership has been on London, double-digit falls have been experienced in Greater Manchester, South and West Yorkshire and the West Midlands – aka. Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham.
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But falls have hit all major northern cities, apart from Tyne & Wear, it added. In fact, those in Greater Manchester are now no more likely to own a home than those in Outer London.
Meanwhile, the number of private renters in England has almost doubled, from 11 per cent of households in 2003 to 19 per cent in 2015. In Greater Manchester, that has risen from six to 20 per cent, while the report said Outer London and West Yorkshire had both also reported double-digit growth.
“London has a well-known and fully blown housing crisis, but the struggle to buy a home is just as big a problem in cities across the North of England," said Stephen Clarke, policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation.
“We cannot allow other cities to edge towards the kind of housing crisis that London has been saddled with. It’s encouraging that the new Prime Minister has talked about tackling the housing deficit. She may find that making good on this promise could secure as important a legacy as negotiating a successful exit from the European Union."