How wealth is distributed will always be a contentious issue, especially as the Baby Boomers (those aged between their late 50’s and late 70’s) wealth has grown exponentially over the last 20 years, compared to the wealth of the younger generation.
With most UK property in the hands of the older generation, with its total value about to smash through the £8 trillion barrier (up from £3 trillion at the start of the Millennium), is it right that so much wealth is concentrated in the hands of the older generations?
As national house prices have continued to grow unabated (for example in the last eight years by 49.9%, whilst real take home pay has only increased by 11.8%), this has meant younger people are finding it even harder to get onto the property ladder and those already on it to move up it.
Looking at the older end of the age range for home ownership…
of the 15,206 homes in the Heatons (SK4), 3,745 households are 65 years or older, and 80% of those households (2,995) are owned (mostly without a mortgage)
A full split as follows …
- Owned 80.0%
- Council House 13.7%
- Privately Rented 4.1%
- Living Rent Free 1.6%
- Shared Ownership 0.7%