"There is more that can, and must, be done, including regulatory flexibility and Government focus on increasing housing supply rather than short-term demand-side boosts"
- Paul Broadhead - BSA
A growing number of renters in their prime homebuying years have failed to get on the property ladder, with many fearing they never will.
New research from the Building Societies Association (BSA) reveals that 59% of renters aged 25–44 expected to own a home by now, but have been unable to. Across all age groups, 43% of renters had expected to own by this point in their lives.
A third (33%) of 25–44-year-olds say they want to buy but don’t think they’ll ever be able to. In contrast, only 8% say they don’t want to own, down from 15% five years ago.
The findings are part of a wider BSA report, The Missing Millions, which highlights a growing backlog of first-time buyers. Since 2006, 7.2 million individuals or couples were expected to have purchased their first home, but only 5 million have actually done so. That leaves 2.2 million “missing” first-time buyers.
Deposit remains the biggest barrier
Affordability remains the key hurdle for those hoping to buy. The BSA’s latest Property Tracker survey, published 23 July, shows that:
67% of first-time buyers cite raising a deposit as the biggest barrier (61% overall)
61% say monthly mortgage payments are unaffordable
48% of first-time buyers struggle to access a large enough mortgage
26% of the public cite job insecurity, up from 19% in June 2023
“It’s shocking that 2.2 million first-time buyers who would have reasonably expected to buy their own home have failed to do so since the financial crisis," noted Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage and housing policy at the BSA. "That comes into sharp focus when you see the statistics of the number of people in rented accommodation who have been unable to achieve their dream of homeownership in line with their life plan.”
Confidence in the market is low
Just 15% of people think now is a good time to buy a property, down from 20% in January 2025. More than a third (36%) say it’s not a good time.
Despite house prices holding steady, nearly half (44%) expect them to rise in the next 12 months, while just 12% believe they’ll fall.
Broadhead warned that without long-term changes, the situation could worsen. “We can’t remove the barriers to homeownership overnight, and there won’t be a solution that enables everyone to get on the property ladder,” he said. “But there is more that can, and must, be done, including regulatory flexibility and Government focus on increasing housing supply rather than short-term demand-side boosts.”
Hope and hesitation among younger renters
Among 18–24-year-old renters, the next generation of first-time buyers, 86% say they want to own a home. Over a quarter (28%) think they’ll buy within the next five years.
However, 19% believe they will never be able to, up from 12% five years ago, a growing share that points to rising pessimism among younger renters.
“Every day that passes without real action raises the number of potential lifetime renters,” Broadhead added.
