{"id":18283,"date":"2025-12-09T12:46:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T11:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/?p=18283"},"modified":"2025-12-10T10:55:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T09:55:42","slug":"who-owns-the-roof-over-our-heads-and-why-it-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.key-stream.com\/news\/who-owns-the-roof-over-our-heads-and-why-it-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Owns the Roof Over Our Heads? And why it matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Generation Alpha – the iPad-native, AI-normal, children of Millennials who think global videos, climate chat, and hand sanitiser are just\u2026 life.\u00a0 They\u2019re also the least likely generation to ever own their own home.<\/p>\n

As it stands many Millennial parents will not get to see their children own their own home.\u00a0 That matters. As property ownership centralises – so does wealth.\u00a0 The more wealth is centralised the less money the majority of the population have, which slows economic growth as there is less to spend.\u00a0 We all know the rest – its our lived reality.<\/p>\n

Housing, Wealth, and the Quiet Reshaping of England<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wealth doesn\u2019t just live in pensions or pay packets\u2014it lives in bricks and mortar. Property is the backbone of intergenerational wealth, the buffer against hardship, the inheritance that shapes opportunity. So when we ask, \u201cWho owns the homes?\u201d what we\u2019re really asking is: \u201cWho holds the wealth?\u201d Over the last 50 years, housing has become the dominant store of wealth in England. In the 1970s, residential property accounted for about a quarter of national wealth\u2014far behind business assets and more evenly distributed across sectors. Today, it makes up nearly half, driven by soaring land values and decades of house price inflation. This isn\u2019t just a market story\u2014it\u2019s the product of decades of policy choices that have shifted wealth into housing and tilted the ladder of opportunity toward those who already own.\u00a0 So when we ask, \u201cWho owns the homes?\u201d what we\u2019re really asking is: \u201cWho holds the wealth?\u201d<\/p>\n

More Homes, Fewer People per Door<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since the 1970s, the number of households in England has grown steadily\u2014from about 16 million then to around 23.5 million today. At the same time, the number of adults living in private homes has increased from roughly 33 million to 43.5 million. That\u2019s fewer people per home, on average, and a rise in single-person and small households.\u00a0 But while we\u2019ve built more homes, ownership hasn\u2019t spread equally – more on that later.<\/p>\n

Empty Homes, Untapped Wealth<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are over 699,000 vacant dwellings in England. That\u2019s nearly 3% of the total housing stock\u2014and more than a quarter million have been empty for six months or more. These homes sit unused while waiting lists for housing stretch into the millions. In wealth terms, that\u2019s hundreds of billions of pounds in underused or idle assets\u2014concentrated in the hands of people or entities who can afford to let them sit.<\/p>\n

The Disappearing Safety Net: Social Housing<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1980, England had around 5.5 million social rented homes. Today? Closer to 4.1 million. Over two million public homes have been sold under Right to Buy\u2014many ending up in the private rental market. Meanwhile, new social housing construction has collapsed.<\/p>\n

This erosion of public housing stock has pushed lower-income households into the private sector, where rents are higher and more volatile. For these households, wealth isn\u2019t building\u2014it\u2019s bleeding, month by month, in rent.<\/p>\n

Rise of the Corporate Landlord<\/strong><\/p>\n

The housing market isn\u2019t just dominated by individuals anymore. In 2024, more than 60,000 new buy-to-let companies were registered, and around three-quarters of new BTL purchases went into company structures. This shift\u2014fueled by tax incentives\u2014means more properties are being pulled into corporate portfolios, where the aim is yield, not housing security.<\/p>\n

That matters. It changes how homes are bought, managed, and priced\u2014and it concentrates property wealth among those who can afford to operate at scale.<\/p>\n

Price vs Pay: The Growing Divide<\/strong><\/p>\n

If housing is wealth, then the price of entry keeps rising.\u00a0 House prices have soared well ahead of wages. In 1997, the average house cost about 3.5\u00d7 median earnings. Today, as reported by ONS, it\u2019s closer to 9\u00d7 with many areas far higher.\u00a0 For most first-time buyers, especially without family help, owning a home means taking on debt that shadows decades of future earnings. That shifts wealth creation into the hands of those who already have it\u2014and locks out many who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Reform and the Edges of Progress<\/strong><\/p>\n

There have been efforts to nudge the system. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 scrapped exploitative ground rents on new leases\u2014removing a cost that offered no benefit to owners. Meanwhile, Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) have proliferated in cities, offering lower-cost shared housing options\u2014but often at the cost of stability and long-term wealth building.<\/p>\n

So Where\u2019s the Wealth Going?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s housing system increasingly stores wealth, rather than shares it. Properties are assets. Empty homes are investments. Renting is a cost, not a step. And ownership\u2014a ladder of mobility\u2014has become more fortress than foundation.<\/p>\n

The Fix Isn\u2019t Just More Homes<\/strong><\/p>\n

To rebalance housing as a path to wealth\u2014not just a reflection of it\u2014we need:<\/p>\n