UK risks ‘lost generation’ of young people out of work; first time buyers face toughest time since financial crisis – business live

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UK home ownership is increasingly out of reach for young people, David Thomas, the outgoing chief executive of Barratt Redrow is warning today.

In an interview with the BBC, Thomas says that now is one of the most difficult times to get onto the housing ladder, comparable only with the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2008.

Certainly it’s going to be close to where we were [after] the great financial crisis.

That was probably more to do with lending, but I think it’s very, very comparable for first-time buyers. We’re now facing challenges around affordability with no government support scheme in place.

“This is not a failure of young people. It is a failure of a system stuck in the past. Whether it is education or health or welfare, that system fails to enable their participation in the labour market.

“Instead, all too often it ends up putting young people on a path to a life not in jobs but on benefits. This should be the priority for the government. It should be the priority for all of us.”