If you’re currently in the process of trying to find somewhere new to live, you’re probably painfully aware that navigating the UK’s rental and property market is incredibly stressful right now.

Those of us who are renting are faced with rising rents, bidding wars and a major supply-demand problem, where the number of people wanting to find a new place to lease greatly exceeds the number of properties available (hence the stories of potential tenants turning up to flat viewings, only to be met by 20 other hopefuls in the exact same position), especially in in-demand cities.

And if you’re either looking to buy a place or you’re already a homeowner, you might have had mortgages fall through or been impacted by sharply rising mortgage rates, prompting your monthly payments to increase dramatically.

Now, new research from campaign group Generation Rent has further underlined just how difficult the current climate is.

According to their latest report, it currently takes the best part of a decade to save for a mortgage deposit in England on average.

Generation Rent found that it typically takes 9.6 years to piece together the money for a mortgage, compared to 6.8 years in 2012.

However, if you’re trying to buy your first home in London, it will take even longer to save up (a fact that will surely come as no surprise to anyone who has ever braved the capital’s rental scene or housing market) – the average period of time required is 18.3 years. Yep, almost two whole decades. 

The region least impacted by the current crisis is the north-east, where it still takes the same amount of time (4.6 years on average) to save up as it did back in 2012.

The amount of time needed to save up has increased in part because rents have risen so dramatically, meaning that tenants have less disposable income to put aside for their deposit, and because house prices have increased.

According to Generation Rent, the monthly rent for the average one-bed home in England has risen from £495 in 2012 to £725 in 2021, while the price of the average first-time buyer’s home rose by 72% between 2012 and 2023.

“Most renters dream of owning their home one day, but the struggle to save has got even worse in the past decade,” said Ben Twomey, director at Generation Rent.

“In much of the country, the typical worker faces at least a decade living and saving in the private rented sector before they have a mortgage deposit. That gets close to two decades for Londoners and even then that’s only possible by sharing with other people into their 40s.

“More people are renting from private landlords for longer stretches of their lives, and want a home that allows them to settle down. That’s why we need the measures in the Renters Reform Bill that will stop landlords evicting tenants without a valid reason, drive out criminal landlords and improve the quality of private rented homes.” 

Last month, a Renters Reform Bill was tabled in parliament, which would abolish no fault evictions (also known as Section 21 evictions), and would make it easier for tenants to have pets in their rented homes.

There are also plans to introduce a private rental ombudsman service to settle disputes that arise between landlords and tenants.

The bill now has to pass through the House of Lords and the House of Commons before it becomes law. 

Images: Getty