The country is divided in many ways. High up on this list of divisions, perhaps even in the top five, is the one between people who have bought the property they live in, and those who rent it.
This gap is wider and growing at a faster rate than you would guess. The average deposit saved to buy a house is now £33,000, according to Halifax, compared with just under £18,000 nine years ago.
ONS figures put average rent rises at around 2.5 per cent a year. Mortgage repayments, thanks to lower interest rates, are low and heading down – especially if you are an equity-rich, older homeowner. The average monthly mortgage repayment is £542, compared with an average monthly rent of £746 outside London, according to Homelet.
So the deposits required to buy are getting bigger, while the rents – the outgoings that stand in the way of saving for a deposit – are getting higher, and those already on the ladder are enjoying much lower outgoings than those struggling to reach it.
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