There’s an interesting report out, prepared by the Resolution Foundation think tank, and reported by the BBC News website.
Summarising the BBC summary, it says 1 in 10 adults owns a second home or investment property (and which includes those who own multiple second homes and investment properties) whilst 1 in 4 adults don’t own any property.
Interestingly it goes on to say:
“….”Contrary to the popular narrative, these second-home owners are rarely your typical middle-income worker shoring up savings, or ordinary retirees boosting pension income,” said Laura Gardiner, senior policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation. “They tend to be baby boomers who are very wealthy indeed relative to their peers, living in the south and east of England.”
Those born since 1981 own just 3% of second homes, according to the report….”
I always treat reports like this with a pinch of salt, as most are prepared to further some type of political agenda. In my experience, having met many new and would-be property investors, I don’t recognise this description at all. Many I meet are in their 20’s and 30’s, and are not wealthy (yet), and see property as an alternative to years of drudgery as a wage slave. It would be interesting to know where Resolution Foundation found their data, and what their agenda is, although it does seem to be suggesting the bloated baby boomer is the mainstay of the buy to let market (and presumably responsible for all the evils of the property market?)