House owning drops to 25-year low in England
HOME ownership dropped once again last year, falling to the lowest level in a quarter of a century, according to shocking official figures released yesterday.
The level of home ownership has now been falling for a decade. In 2012-13, 65.2 per cent of English homes were owner-occupied, down from 70.7 per cent in 2003, to the lowest level since 1987.
The government’s English Housing Survey also showed that private rental properties now outnumber social rented homes for the first time: 18 per cent of households rent privately against 16.8 per cent in the social sector.
The proportion of homes rented privately has doubled since 1992, and a quarter of private tenants now receive housing benefit, up from 19.5 per cent in 2008-09.
Overall, the survey says that 4.9m homes in England failed to meet the government’s decent homes standard, 22 per cent of the total. The share is the highest in the private rented sector, where a third of homes do not meet the standard.
Despite the figures, 61 per cent of private renters said that they expect to buy a property in the future, and 44 per cent of social renters expect to buy their current home.