Home ownership levels in Britain are about to fall behind those of France as buy-to-let prices new buyers out of the market.
The figures, released by Eurostat, Europe’s official statistics bureau, showed that the proportion of owner-occupied homes in France almost caught up with the UK in 2013 and was on track to overtake Britain last year for the first time since Eurostat started compiling the data in 1995.
According to Eurostat home ownership in Britain was 64.6 per cent in 2013 and falling, while France was at 64.3 per cent and rising. Both are below the EU average of 70 per cent. On current trajectories, Britain will have fallen behind France in last year.
UK Government figures show that the vast majority of new housing in the UK since the turn of the millennium has been bought by landlords. Between 2000 and 2012, the private rented sector has accounted for some 2.5 million of the extra homes. Only 400,000 have been bought by occupiers.
