For a government that emphasises rights and responsibilities, housing seems to have been left out. The government’s largest investment in housing – housing benefit – requires landlords to do nothing for their share of the £20 billion. Regardless of the quality of the home they let or the management they provide, the amount of housing … Continued

Almost a year on from the launch of Help to Buy, millions of Britons are still unable to get on the housing ladder. The ongoing costs of a high loan to value mortgage are too great a stretch on a modest income, however small the deposit. Among the under thirty fives on low to middle … Continued

With house prices out of reach for many, shared ownership could be the next big thing – but only if it makes some serious change The gap between renting and owning with a conventional mortgage, even a high loan-to-value mortgage, has become unbridgeable for low and modest income families in some parts of the country, … Continued

Home ownership is in decline. Rising house prices, falling wages and restrictions on mortgage lending have left this common aspiration far out of the reach of the vast majority of low- and middle-income households. Though today 64% of Britons still own their home, that figure is fast dropping, in no small part due to coalition … Continued

Investors have long enjoyed a love/hate relationship with property. An asset class dominated by commercial real estate, it delivers diversification and a reasonable yield in the good times. But in difficult times, upward-only rent reviews vanish, and fund managers are left wrestling with high voids and bad debts. Residential real estate, meanwhile, has largely been … Continued

The private rented sector is fast becoming the only housing option for low to middle income families. Even with Help to Buy, home ownership is too great a stretch for many, especially in expensive areas and they are very unlikely to get access to affordable housing. The UK’s private rented sector though remains characterised by … Continued

The private rented sector is fast becoming the only housing option for low-to-middle-income families. Even with Help to Buy, home-ownership is too great a stretch for many, especially in expensive areas, and they are very unlikely to get access to affordable housing. We need to increase the supply of market rented homes as well as … Continued

In Britain today, a couple earning £22,000 with one child looking to buy a home are priced out of almost 40 per cent of local authorities. How did we end up here? And where in Britain can low-income working families afford to live? According to our report Home Truths–published last week, a third of the country’s … Continued

The housing crisis has built up over time and can’t be fixed overnight. But there are things the government can do to make homes more affordable to lower-income families Much of Britain is unaffordable to lower-income, working families according to Home Truths, a report published this week by the Resolution Foundation. The report finds that a … Continued

The fact that many ordinary working families are priced out of central London boroughs such as Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and Islington will surprise no one. But a new report by the Resolution Foundation shows that there are now affordability black spots across all parts of the country where low and middle income families would have to … Continued

When delegates gather in Manchester tomorrow for the start of the Chartered Institute of Housing‘s annual conference, there will no doubt be talk of build to rent, the government fund to stimulate new private rented housing supply and attract institutional investors. Registered providers are looking for new ways of attracting capital into housing and build to … Continued

This post originally appeared on the OECD blog How did inequality and household debt interact in the run up to the 2008/09 financial crisis?  Today, a new report byNIESR for the Resolution Foundation provides new evidence on that question for the UK. The new analysis confirms the severity of the borrowing situation of low income households in Britain before … Continued

One of the most striking findings of our Squeezed Britain report, which sets out the economic position of the squeezed middle in forensic detail, is that home ownership is now out of reach for many people on low to middle incomes (LMI). On the basis of current incomes, house prices and the loan-to-value ratios now available, it … Continued

We may be out of recession but the housing market story continues to be one of doom and gloom. House prices continue to fall, the mortgage market continues to contract. While even deposit ready first-time buyers are struggling, the situation is exponentially worse for low-to-middle earners. With just 2 per cent of mortgages available at … Continued