Home ownership in Britain falls to one of Europe’s lowest

Britain now has one of the lowest home ownership rates in Europe, it has been claimed.

Figures from the EU’s official statistics bureau, Eurostat, show that home ownership in Britain in 2013 was 64.6%, down from 70% in 2005.

Only France (64.3%), Denmark (63%), Austria (57.3%), Germany (52.6%) and Switzerland (44%) were lower.

The average rate of home ownership in Europe is 70%, with eastern European countries having the highest rates – Romania coming top with 95.6%.

On trajectory assumptions, home ownership in Britain will by now have fallen below that of France.

In separate data, the Department of Communities and Local Government said that most new homes built between 2000 and 2012 had been bought by investors, not occupiers.

It estimated that 2.5m new homes had been bought by landlords, and just 400,000 by owner occupiers.