Nick Millican on Why Young People are Giving Up on Home Ownership in the UK
The UK housing crisis has been a major problem for the UK in recent years and London has felt the worst of it. Fueled by the pandemic, housing prices skyrocketed and are still going up. While more homes are being sold this year so far, Nick Millican has noticed a disturbing trend of young people completely giving up on ever owning a home. While older generations may call them lazy or entitled, many factors are outright preventing younger folks from being able to purchase a home.
To get to the bottom of this problem, many surveys were conducted; reviewing the data, Nick Millican saw that while seven out of ten young people want to be homeowners, a massive 52% believe that it will never happen. This attitude of hopelessness concerning the housing market didn’t just come out of nowhere though. UK housing prices are out of control, especially in London.
While more homes are being sold this year, they aren’t being sold to younger people but rather to older folks who were already well off financially or to wealthy elites in high-class boroughs. According to Nick Millican, this has led some young people to mockingly call London a city for the old and rich.
Rent is Also a Problem
Nick Millican has also noticed that in reaction to the high housing costs, more young people have chosen to rent. This in turn has driven up rental prices. In addition to this price increase making life tough for young people, it also makes it nearly impossible for them to save up enough money for a deposit when buying a home. That said, there is hope that Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, may be able to propose a new budget that will help young people looking to purchase a home shortly.