The report found that 42% of people aged between 20 and 35 who are renting are ‘completely happy’ to do so for the next ten years or more, and ‘it’s not important whether they ever own their own home or not’.
LV= said this is a seismic change in attitude toward home ownership and comes at a time when home affordability is keeping many first time buyers off the property ladder.
The research revealed that the number of households in England that are privately rented rose from 2.4m in 2005 to 3.8m in 2011-12, a 58% increase and that over half of adults in the UK aged under 35 live in a home they do not own.
While nearly all of the previous generation of Brits polled (those now aged between 55 and 75) saw owning their own property as the ‘ultimate goal’ (93%), only a third (33%) of people under 35 now feel the same way.
In line with this, half of all renters (43%) no longer see bricks and mortar as a sign of success, and almost three quarters (70%) say the notion that it is in some way shameful to never own a property is completely out of date.
The majority (72%) of 20-35 year olds renting are either married or in a relationship and earning an average of £34,084 a year.
However, the report also showed that despite the change in attitudes to home ownership, 65% renters are also failing to put in adequate safety nets should something prevent them from paying their rent.
The average Brit forks out 40% of their monthly salary on rent alone.
Mark Jones, LV= head of protection, said: “It’s important to realise that renting does come with certain pitfalls that often aren’t signposted. When buying a property you are encouraged to take out an insurance policy to guarantee repayments in the event that something happens to the mortgage payer, no such prompt exists in the rental market. We know that one third of Brits currently rent and that 65% of these people have no insurance in place.
“This would leave a huge number of people in the UK in a vulnerable position if they found themselves unable to cover their rent and living expenses.
“Regardless of whether you are a homeowner or a tenant, it is important to have a financial back up plan in place which would enable you to carry on living in your home if you were unable to work. This is particularly important if any loss of income might affect your partner or family’s ability to pay the rent.”
