Young people 'increasingly stuck in rented accommodation' | Money | guardian.co.uk

Young people 'increasingly stuck in rented accommodation' | Money | guardian.co.uk

A lack of mortgages for first-time buyers, historically high house prices and stagnant wages have led to soaring numbers of young people stuck in private rented accommodation.

The proportion of low and middle income (LMI) earners aged under 35 and renting has more than tripled from 14% in the late 1980s to 47% now, according to the Resolution Foundation. In its Squeezed Britain report it said that during the past six years the number of LMIs under 35 who owned a home plummeted from 51% to just over a third.

The foundation said housing costs became a huge burden for tenants during the past decade, with private sector rents increasing by a third in real terms between 1999-2000 and 2009-10. As a result, approximately one fifth of LMI households are struggling to keep up with the costs of a mortgage or rent.