House prices are keeping many hopeful homeowners from achieving their goal of owning their own home.  Getting on the property ladder is so difficult that some experts have warned there will be generations that will not be able to afford housing.  Without the ability to save for a deposit and gain approval for a mortgage loan, households are forced to rent and the cost can be more than a mortgage repayment would actually cost.  A report from Savills estimated that there will be 1.2 million more renters in Britain by 2019 as house prices increase by 20% in the next five years.

Some are calling on more to be done to help first time buyers.  This comes at the heels of a housing market boost that was blamed on the Help to Buy scheme put into place by the government to assist first time buyers into homes at a lower level deposit.  Many feared the assistance had been too much and the result was a housing market boom that was destined to become a housing market bubble that would disrupt the UK economic road to recovery.

A recent study by MoneyCorp revealed that the UK is losing many young people to other countries due to the housing market.  Foreign housing markets are much more affordable and rather than being shut out of the property ladder, many are choosing to move abroad.  In the past year, there has been an 80% increase by people under 40 years old looking to buy foreign properties. 

Data from the ONS shows that two million people between the ages of 25 and 44 moved from the UK in the decade to 2012.  Emigration into the UK has been on the decline. 

Angus Hanton, co-founder of  Intergenerational Foundation, remarked that the loss of people from the UK to other countries could be a problem for our future.  He stated, “At risk is a potential brain drain, asset drain and generational drain if these young people choose to move abroad permanently in the future, having been let down by the UK.  Policymakers must do more to help the many under 40s locked out of the housing market to put down property roots at home rather than abroad.”