Home ownership: an entire generation without a key to the front door | Money | guardian.co.uk

Home ownership: an entire generation without a key to the front door | Money | guardian.co.uk

Just one in four couples will be able to afford to buy a home in the future, according to a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which says that Britain is turning into a "rotten borough" where a whole generation will be locked out of the property-owning democracy.

The report, by the JRF Housing Market Task Force, calls for radical reform to Britain's housing and planning system to reduce the boom-and-bust cycle. It wants an urgent increase in the supply of housing, both private and council, plus credit controls, such as temporary caps on the maximum amounts an individual can borrow, to curb future booms.

Council tax should be reformed, so that it reflects a fixed percentage of a property's value, and stamp duty raised regularly in line with inflation, according to the report.