- Homeownership is much harder for younger generations: people born in the mid-1990s have only about a 25% chance of owning a home, far below rates for previous generations.
- The big barriers are chronic underbuilding and soaring construction costs—England needs ~300,000 new homes a year but only ~208,000 were built last year, with inflation, Covid, the Ukraine war and labour shortages pushing up costs.
- There are small signs of easing—wage growth has outpaced house prices recently, lenders are more flexible, and the government is planning planning and green‑belt reforms—but any real improvement will take years.
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