The number of people owning homes has not fallen for the first time since 2003, according to Government figures.

The English Housing Survey 2014-15 found that 64% of households - 14.3million - in England are owner-occupied.

Falling levels

Since the 80s, owner occupation levels grew steadily, peaking at 71% in 2003. Since then, the levels have dropped with more opting to rent.

The drop in owner occupiers has started to level off, with rates remaining unchanged between 2013-14 and 2014-15.

More people own their home outright than with a mortgage, according to the survey. A third (33%) owned their property fully, while 30% had a mortgage of some sort on it.

In London, though, this was switched with more people using a mortgage (27%) than owning outright (23%). This was put down to the younger age profile of the population in London.

Buying or renting?

For renters, the private sector was the most popular choice compared to social renting.

In 2014-15, 19% (4.3 million) of renters used a private landlord, compared to 17% (3.9 million) of households living in the social rented sector.

When it came to the choice between buying or renting, younger people (aged 25-34) were more likely to rent privately than to buy with a mortgage.

In 2004-05, 24% of young people lived in the private rented sector. By 2014-15 this had increased to 46%.

Over the same period, the level of young people buying with a mortgage dropped from 54% to 34%.

Stephanie McMahon, Head of Research at Strutt & Parker, said: “Our latest Housing Futures survey identified several key shifts in the UK’s housing market, one of which was the rise in long-term renting. Generation Y (those born between 1978 and 1995) are living in private rental for longer. Of those aged 18-29, 45% of our respondents said that they would consider living in a professionally managed private rental unit.”

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said: “In 2010 there was a housing market where buyers couldn’t buy, builders couldn’t build and lenders couldn’t lend.

“Our efforts are turning that around with more than 270,000 families helped into homeownership through government-backed schemes since 2010, while the number of new homes is up 25% over the last year.”