Young adults today are around half as likely to own a home as people born twenty years before, according to analysis.
The Local Government Association (LGA) found that just 11 per cent of people born in 1996 are on the property ladder, compared with 21 per cent of those born in 1976 who owned their own home by the age of 22.
Its findings were based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) UK figures.
The LGA warned that many young people face renting into retirement, as the high cost of the private rental sector is preventing households from being able to save for a deposit.
Households privately renting in England spend around a third of their income on rent, while home-owners spend 17 per cent of their income on mortgage repayments.
In some parts of London, rents equate to more than half of household earnings, the LGA said.
The average deposit in England is 72 per cent of an individual’s gross salary, rising to 137 per cent in London and dropping to 56.7 per cent in the North West.
Council leaders are calling for more powers to build new social rented homes and for the Right to Buy Scheme to be devolved locally.
LGA housing spokesman Martin Tett said: “Home ownership remains a distant dream for most young people, with the high cost of the private rental sector meaning many are unable to save for a deposit to get on to the property ladder and face the prospect of being stuck renting into retirement.”
The Government unveiled fresh efforts to boost housing in England this week.
All new-build houses in England will be sold on a freehold basis unless there are exceptional circumstances – ending the unscrupulous practice of unnecessary leaseholds, ministers announced.
And it was also suggested that tenants in the private rental sector may also be able to “passport” their existing deposit between landlords when moving from one property to the next – rather than needing to raise a second sum of cash.
