However despite the desire to get onto the property ladder, the poll conducted for the New Homes Marketing Board (NHMB) showed that lack of supply and tightening affordability have turned first-time buyers into 'an endangered species.'
As a result, the next generation of first-time buyers could end up never being able to get out of rented accommodation - a prospect that worries well over 80 per cent of the population.
“Our polls already show that most people understand that the difficulties faced by first-time buyers is turning them into an endangered species and actually amounts to a serious social problem. Now we see that the alternative – a lifetime condemned to renting – fills most people with dread,” said NHMB chairman, David Pretty, CBE.
“Even if renting is seen as a worst-case scenario for many people, there seems to be an assumption that renting will still somehow be affordable in the future. But the supply and variety of homes for rent, like homes for sale, is ultimately controlled by land availability and the planning system, and an ongoing serious shortage of supply will simply drive up rents as it has driven up prices.
“We’re now looking at a situation where perhaps the lost generation of people who can’t afford to buy the home they need today may not be able to afford to rent a decent home in the future either - and that’s a social timebomb, particularly if those renters never have the opportunity to build up equity to supplement their future pensions."
The poll directly asked respondents how they would feel about living permanently in rented accommodation. Well over 80 per cent of the people sampled said they would be unhappy about it, and for those under 35, the figure rose to 90 per cent. Most respondents – almost two-thirds – declared they would be 'very unhappy.'
Just 8 per cent of the population as surveyed said they would be happy renting permanently, while the remaining 9 per cent were non-committal.
Other questions posed revealed that the difficulties facing first-time homebuyers have grown into a significant social problem which threatens the well-being of local communities nationwide. Almost 90 per cent of respondents thought property prices are a major problem for first-time buyers in their area – and that the problem is worsening everywhere.
Pretty added: “Government has woken up to the problem and has ambitious plans to release more land and streamline the planning process. In turn, the housebuilding industry is confident that it can boost production of homes for both sale and rent, and match Government’s increased housing targets given more land and a more efficient planning system.”
