HOME ownership remains an aspiration for most British adults, with 80 per cent hoping to buy a property within 10 years’ time.

A report by YouGov for the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), on attitudes to housing tenure, revealed that ownership is still the overwhelming preference for adults in the UK, with 72 per cent of them wanting to own in the next two years.

However despite these aspirations 85 per cent of those surveyed agreed that owning a home is “very difficult” for young people in today’s economic climate.

Three quarters said they felt more help was needed for young people in order to get on to the property ladder. They pointed to the government, mortgage lenders, house builders and local authorities as having a role in this.

More than half said there should be incentives offered to those who save for a deposit. There was also strong support for the introduction of subsidies for first time buyers. Not surprisingly over a third were in favour of scrapping stamp duty and bringing back mortgage interest tax relief.

CML director general Paul Smee said the survey findings highlight the imbalance between aspirations to get onto the property ladder and the challenges of doing so.

“Like all good research, the findings give rise to some searching questions for the industry and Government – not least, how far it is possible to balance the tension between aspiration and achievability, which continues to be a feature of the UK’s relationship with home-ownership,” he said. 

Indeed of those surveyed, among those who aspire to own a home, less than a quarter believe it is likely to happen within the next two years. This lack of optimism was most apparent among the 18 to 24-year-old age group. 

Given the challenges involved in buying a property, around half of respondents were in favour of partial home-ownership. However the majority saw this as a stepping stone to full ownership rather than a form of permanent tenure in its own right.

The two reasons given for wanting to own a home were; having the freedom to do what you want with your home and knowing that the property is yours once you have paid off the mortgage. These reasons outweighed financial advantages such as seeing the property as an investment.

Virtually none of the existing homeowners that took part in the survey said they wished for a different type of tenure in the future.