The HBF’s report, called ‘Broken Ladder: The Affordability Gap’, points to how home ownership has fallen since its peak. In 2003, 71% of households owned a home but this fell to 64.8% by 2024.

Adjusted for population growth, the HBF has calculated that this represents over 1.5 million “missing” homeowner households that would have owned a home today if 2003’s ownership rates had been maintained.

The HBF’s data shows that the largest decline of home ownership has been among 35 to 44 year olds who would otherwise account for around 800,000 additional owning households.

Ownership among the 25 to 34, 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 households has also fallen by around 500,000 in each.

Higher deposit requirements, stricter lending criteria, elevated interest rates and house prices have all been identified by HBF as continuing to outpace wage growth and making home ownership harder to achieve.

•   The Finance Professional Show 2025: The Video
•   Help to Buy generated £1.38bn return for govt
•   Red tape stopping SME builders from delivering 100,000 homes

Specifically, the HBF has highlighted affordability challenges remain even if a deposit is saved which — based on current income averages — can take over seven years to raise. In London, this can stretch to nearly two decades.

The group points to the average first-time buyer home costing around £240,000 but a typical borrower can only access around £148,000 based on standard income multiples.

After adding a 10% deposit, this leaves an affordability gap of nearly £70,000. In London, the gap increases to £275,000 for average earners aged 22 to 29 and £220,000 for those aged 30 to 39.

The HBF is now using this data to urge the government to reintroduce more support to help people onto the housing ladder.

“Without government intervention, home ownership will continue to fall and become the preserve of a smaller, older and wealthier group,” said Neil Jefferson, CEO at the HBF.

“Help to Buy demonstrated that well-designed equity loan schemes can support buyers, boost supply and deliver strong returns for taxpayers.

“A new, targeted first-time buyer equity loan scheme, part-funded by developers, would restore access to affordable mortgage finance, support new housing delivery, create jobs and growth and give a new generation a fair chance to get onto the housing ladder.”