Millennials will have paid £44,000 more on rent than baby boomers by the time they hit 30, according to leading think tank
Millennials will have paid £44,000 more rent than the baby boomers by the time they hit 30, according to a leading think tank.
The Resolution Foundation has found that a combination of falling home ownership and rising costs in the private rented sector mean that today’s millennial generation will have spent £44,000 more on rent by the time they reach the age of 30.
The analysis shows that baby boomers – those born between 1946 and 1965 – were the main beneficiaries of the growth in home ownership over the 20th century, with close to two-thirds (63 per cent) owning their own home by the age of 30.
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Laura Gardiner, senior policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: "Young people today are paying a heavy price for decades of falling home ownership. The struggle to get on the housing ladder has left many of today’s millennials renting, at a time when it has become more expensive to do so.
“Britain’s continuing failure to build enough homes means that unless we change course the struggle of young people to own their home is only going to get worse.
The think tank welcomed Prime Minister Theresa May's acknowledgment of the "housing deficit" in a speech last week.
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“The good news is that older generations are just as concerned about young people’s struggle to own their home, and support for housebuilding is growing across all age groups. A sustained programme of housebuilding to cut Britain’s ‘housing deficit’ would send out a clear message from the incoming Prime Minister that she is committed to repairing the social contract between generations," Gardiner added.
Earlier this month MPs said they were starting an inquiry into the embattle housebuilding sector, seeking answers on why supply cannot keep pace with demand to produce new homes.