However, the nation is near the bottom when it comes to the percentage of the population owning a home
While the UK may trail other European nations when it comes to the total proportion of the population that own a home, it does lead the way when it comes to the might of the mortgage sector and the number of properties purchased by borrowing.
Research by mortgage broker Henry Dannell has revealed that over 25 million homeowners in the UK have climbed the property ladder with the help of the mortgage sector.
Just Germany and France came close to this level, with an estimated 21.5 million and 21 million, respectively.
Spain with 13.5 million and the Netherlands with 10.5 million were the only other nations where the number of mortgage-backed homeowners exceeds the 10-million mark.
At the other end of the table, just 0.5% of all North Macedonian homeowners have a mortgage, equating to just 10,353 of the homeowning population.
However, when it comes to the total share of the population that own their own home, Henry Dannell’s analysis of property market data across European nations found that at 65.1%, the UK sits well within the bottom 10.
Only those in France, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland are less likely to own their own home, while at 95.8%, Romania is home to the highest level of homeowners as a percentage of the total population.
When it comes to the proportion of these homeowners that have borrowed in order to buy, Iceland ranks top, with 63.9% of all homeowners having a mortgage. At 37.5%, the UK ranks 10th in this respect, though in terms of the sheer volume of homeowners financed via the mortgage sector, the UK sits top of the table by far.
Geoff Garrett, director at Henry Dannell, commented that despite being home to some of the most notoriously high house prices in the world, homeownership remains the predominant strain in the UK property market’s DNA.
“This is despite the fact that property values have spiralled in recent years and we’ve seen a greater acceptance of long-term renting as a lifestyle choice from younger generations,” he noted.
Garrett said that the ability to buy with the help of a mortgage has been vital in helping many homebuyers realise their aspirations of homeownership.
“While mortgage-backed homeowners only account for just shy of 40% of the total market, this equates to a huge 25.2 million people. This makes the UK mortgage sector by far the most pivotal and influential in Europe where the provision of finance in order to purchase a property is concerned,” he said.
