PwC predicts rise in renters

24th July 2015

A PwC report has found over half of 20 to 39-year-olds will be renting property from private landlords rather than living in their own homes a decade from now. It predicts that by 2025, 7.2m households will be in rented accommodation, compared with 5.4m today and just 2.3m in 2001. It notes that owner occupation will be at 60%, down from the 70% seen before the financial crisis. PwC predicts property values will rise 5% this year and average prices could hit £360,000 by 2020, up from the current average of £279,000. One property expert notes the cost of buying was a bigger barrier to ownership than the cost of owning, saying: “with low mortgage rates, annual housing costs are more affordable than for those in the rented tenures. Instead, with house prices still at many multiples of income and mortgage lending at high loan-to-values limited and expensive, it is the cost of raising a deposit that prevents many from buying a home."

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