In 2016/17, 28% of people owned their own home, with a mortgage, compared to 37% in 2006/07.

However, auto-enrolment has been a success with 45% of people of working age enrolled into a pension scheme.

Hargreaves Lansdown personal finance analyst Sarah Coles commented: “The Family Resources Survey provides a snapshot of family finances in 2016/17, and reveals a picture of a nation that’s working hard to save, invest, and pay into pensions. Unfortunately, despite all this hard work, it also shows a population that every year has less and less chance of being able to afford a home of their own.”

The percentage of people who own a home has continued to decline over the past decade. The 2016/17 result is 1% lower than the previous year, whilst the percentage of those renting has continued to incline steeply. Private rental for those between 16 and 24 year olds has increased tremendously from 55% to 73%, whilst 25-34 year olds also saw a significant increase, rising from 28% to 46%.

““The situation is particularly striking for younger people, as 73% of 16-24-year-olds are in private rentals - as are 46% of those aged 25-34 and 26% of those aged 35-44 (a number that has doubled in ten years). It shines a light on how incredibly difficult it is for younger people to be able to afford to buy a home of their own,” Coles said.

However, across the UK, auto-enrolment has been a “huge success” with 45% of working age adults enrolled in a pension scheme, an increase of 2% over 2015/16. This figure includes 66% of employees.

Since the introduction of auto-enrolment in 2012/13, the number of people who have a pension has increased substantially from 49% to 66%.

Coles further commented: “The good news in the survey comes largely from pension participation figures, which show that auto-enrolment has been a huge success so far. Some 45% of people of working age are enrolled into a pension, including 66% of employees – up dramatically from 49% prior to auto-enrolment.”

Despite this, self-employed numbers are falling. Only 16% of those that are self-employed have a pension, compared to 17% in 2015/16. In 2012/13 when auto-enrolment was introduced, 19% of the self-employed population had a pension. The latest figures represent a year-on-year decline.

“Unfortunately, the self-employed have been left behind, and just 16% are enrolled into a pension. This has actually fallen since auto-enrolment began, and underlines the need for some sort of auto-enrolment for the self-employed,” Coles concluded.

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