Listen: are some of us being locked out of our homes?

If you have not bought a home by 45, there is a real risk you won’t.

That is the stark warning from Yorkshire Building Society, the UK’s third largest mutual, whose latest housing report suggests Britain is quietly creating a “lost generation of homeowners”.

Homeownership remains one of the country’s strongest ambitions. Almost nine in ten UK adults (88%) say owning a home is important. Nearly two-thirds (64%) associate it with stability. More than half say it provides long-term financial security (54%) and the opportunity to build an asset (52%). Britain has not stopped wanting to own homes. It is beginning to lose confidence that homeownership is still achievable.

Ros spoke to Tim Leunig, economist at Public First and former economic adviser to Chancellors Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak and Tom Simpson, managing director of homes at Yorkshire Building Society.

Photo by Ethan Kent on Unsplash