Government housing survey reveals renting rise - Industry in depth - Mortgage Introducer UK

Government housing survey reveals renting rise - Industry in depth - Mortgage Introducer UK

The English Housing Survey showed a decrease in the number of owner occupied households from a peak of 14.8 million in 2005 and 2006 to 14.5 million in 2009-10.

The report found that in 2009-10 social renters paid on average £75 per week in rent and private renters £153. Around 62% of social renters received housing benefit compared to 24% of private renters.

In 2009-10 1.8 million households had moved into their current home during the previous 12 months. This was 200,000 less than in 2008-09 and 600,000 less than in 2007-08. The reduction was almost all in the owner occupied sector.

Grenville Turner, chief executive of Countrywide, said: “The UK has traditionally been a nation of homeowners and whilst millions still aspire to buy their own property, current market conditions make that more challenging than usual. Our agents saw a 17% increase in new buyer enquires during 2010 but market transaction levels remained flat.

“Successive governments have widely encouraged homeownership but the impact of the recession has led to a structural change in the market with record levels of tenant demand. We have seen a 37% increase in new tenant applications during 2010 with 4.5 tenants vying for every available property.