YOUNG people aged 22 to 29 years have become less likely to own their own home, with the proportion of homeowners down by 10 per cent, official figures show.

New data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the number in this age group owning a home fell from 37 per cent in 2008 to 27 per cent in 2017.

According to Ross Boyd, founder of the mortgage platform Dashly, it is a reminder of how hard it is now to save for a deposit for a first home.

“For home ownership levels among those in their twenties to have fallen by 10 per cent in less than a decade is a brutal reminder of the struggle young people face getting onto the property ladder,” he said.

“With house prices in so many areas of the country out of people’s reach, the transition from Generation Own to Generation Rent is accelerating by the day and for many young people today, monthly rental payments are often considerably more expensive than the equivalent mortgage payments.”

He added: “Unless you’re fortunate enough to be able to cash a cheque from the Bank of Mum and Dad, finding the deposit required to buy a new home can be an insurmountable challenge - all the more so if you are paying off debt from university.

“In just a decade, the dynamic of home ownership in the UK has changed irreversibly. If this is to end then something fundamental has to change, and mortgage lending itself has to evolve.”