Home ownership has been in decline since before the credit crunch. The share of households owning their home peaked in 2003 at 71 per cent, while those owning with a mortgage peaked in the early 1990s. With many prospective first-time buyers still struggling to buy, it appears that home ownership is likely to decline further.

Recent analysis by the Council of Mortgage Lenders highlights falling numbers of younger home-owners. It suggests that around 64 per cent of people born in 1960 and 1970 owned their own home by the age of 35. For those born in 1980, the figure falls to 44 per cent. Only 39 per cent of those born in 1990 are expected to own their home by the time they reach 35 years old.