06 Feb, 2019/ by Homeward Legal /Buyer, First Time Buyer, Sale & Purchase
The number of owner-occupiers in England has remained the same for the fifth year in a row, according to the latest English Housing Survey.
However, the most up-to-date figures show that the gap between outright owners and those who still have a mortgage has narrowed.
In 2016-17, 34 percent of households owned outright while 28 percent had a mortgage; by 2017-18, the same proportion owned outright but the numbers buying with a mortgage had risen to 30 percent.
Younger owners on the increase
The English Housing Survey maps the tenure of households across the country, estimating there are 23.2 million households, of which 14.8 million are owner-occupiers.
Owner occupation had risen steadily in England from the 1980s until its peak of 71 percent in 2003. A gradual decline since then has seen the number of homeowners drop to the current level of 64 percent.
The number of 35-44-year-olds who own their home has risen for the first time in a decade: in 2017-18, 57 percent of people in that age group were owner occupiers, up from 52 percent in the previous year.
That is a long way from the high of 71 percent of owner occupation in that age group a decade ago, with a considerable rise in the number of people of that age remaining in the private rented sector - from 13 percent in 2007-08 to 28 percent in 2017-18.
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Joining those rising numbers of owner occupiers with Homeward Legal's help. We work with top-quality conveyancing solicitors across England and Wales to deliver the best conveyancing services at the best-value price.
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