A significant number of millennial couples are putting off having children or growing their families because they are renting properties and don’t own their own homes, according to a new report.
The study by housing charity, Shelter, also found a huge drop in home ownership rates amongst the demographic, down 18 percent from just ten years ago.
Meanwhile the number privately renting has increased 115 percent and of those, 38 percent have said it is stopping them having children.
Polly Neate, Shelter Chief Executive, said: “It’s heart-breaking that so many young couples are putting their lives on hold simply because they can’t offer a stable life to a child in a privately rented home.
“Short, unstable contracts and the high cost of renting mean that many private renters simply don’t have the security they need to settle down and start a family.
“With the number of private renters growing in this country, the government must build more genuinely affordable homes for rent and give people stronger rights – so they can build a brighter future for them and their loved ones.”
There is good news for millennials but it comes with a catch - they are in line for the biggest “inheritance boom” of any post-war generation, but it will be too late to solve the housing crisis or wealth chasm between generations.
A report last year by the influential think tank the Resolution Foundation said wealth accumulated by older people would benefit younger generations in years to come.
But the most common age at which millennials’ - those born between 1981 and 2000 - inherit would be 61, because of their parents’ vastly improved life expectancy.
Inheritances are set to double over the next 20 years, the Foundation said, as so-called baby boomers - born between 1946 and 1965 - become older.