According to research from Perenna, which examined the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS’) latest English Housing Survey data, this is equal to around 803,000 fewer households with children owning a property with a mortgage.
Th report noted that the number of families in the private rented sector has more than doubled over the same period, equating to 834,000 more families, with approximately one-and-a-half million households with children in the rental sector.
This is equal to a third of the entire rental market, Perenna said.
The ONS said the number of households with children across all tenures has risen by just 1% since 2004, which compares to 20% for households without children.
Colin Bell, co-founder and COO at Perenna, said: “Our analysis paints a stark picture of the current UK housing market. We have been stuck in the grips of a mortgage affordability crisis for nearly two decades, compounded by a lack of suitable housing stock and a simultaneous lack of investment in alternative tenures.
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“This reality is leaving hundreds of thousands of families unable to get onto the property ladder at all, exposed to ever-rising rents and often unsuitable properties, and we need to find a much more effective way to support them.”
He added: “We need to see more innovation hit the mortgage mainstream to address this need. Affordability-led low-deposit mortgages and higher-loan-to-income (LTI) lending are vital for helping them navigate higher house prices.
“Longer-term fixed rates with affordability based on the fixed rate will enable families to access more finance, giving them the ability not only to get on the ladder, but to stay on it in property that suits them as well as giving them fixed payment stability for longer. Taking action will create a nation of happy homeowners who can build equity and financial stability and drive our economy forwards – not a group of renters for whom buying remains a pipedream.”
