18/09/2017 To boost young people’s chances of getting on the property ladder, employers and government should both contribute to first-time buyers’ deposit-savings using auto-enrolment of monthly pay-packets – a think-tank has today urged. The call comes as centre-right think-tank Localis produces the interim findings of its report ‘Disrupting the Housing Market’. The report will present three key policy recommendations: – Jack Airey, senior researcher at Localis, said: “Whether out of choice, or simply because they do not have enough money at the end of each month to do so, a majority of people are not building any financial capacity with which to get a mortgage and purchase a home in the future. “This crisis of saving transcends people of all tenures, ages, regions and socio-economic classes yet these consequences are underappreciated, least of all by non-homeowners themselves. Under this auto-enrolment scheme, rather than relying on the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’, employers and government would help young people onto the housing ladder.” Liam Booth-Smith, chief executive at Localis, said: “The available evidence overwhelmingly points to the vast majority of people still wanting to own a home. It is an important life ambition, one that recent generations have enjoyed and future generations should too. “The housing market is everyone’s problem – those who already own their home are dependent on someone else buying it. If the first rung of the housing ladder is lifted too high, there will be fewer and fewer buyers to sell to in the future. “A Burkean intergenerational contract needs to be restored between those who wish to own their home, those that already do; and those that want to leave for retirement.” Read more; for a full breakdown of the interim housing report findings, please visit : http://www.localis.org.uk/news/policies-for-a-fairer-housing-market/
Employers should help younger people save for a deposit on their first home, according to London think-tank Localis. The centre-right organisation included the recommendation in the interim findings of its forthcoming report, titled Disrupting the Housing Market. It said that young adults were being priced out of home ownership and needed more support from local authorities as they struggled with rising costs and high levels of student debt. "This crisis of saving transcends people of all tenures, ages, regions and socio-economic classes yet these consequences are underappreciated, least of all by non-homeowners themselves", said Jack Airey, senior researcher at Localis.