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\'Peter Pan Generation\' are Staying at Home Until Their Thirties Due to Nimbysim and Lack of Planning Reform

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Two million parents in the UK have adult children over the age of 30 living at home, largely due to an antiquated planning system which is failing to cater for their housing needs, reports Linden Homes.

With the average age of a first time buyer now at 34, this new generation of Kippers (kids in parents’ pockets eroding retirement savings) are largely the result of a severe shortage of new homes, which is contributing to extortionate property prices in the UK.

The Government wants to encourage the notion that it is tackling the housing crisis and is exploring ways of providing a new entry level for first time buyers, such as the £60,000 house competition, but the reality is that the planning system cannot cope with an acceleration in building. Housing output is at its lowest since World War Two, with 12.5% fewer homes built between 1993 – 2003 than during the previous decade.

Philip Davies, Chief Executive of Linden Homes comments: “In order to deliver a better functioning housing market, the Government and local councils must free up land for development and undertake an urgent reform of the planning system which will enable housebuilders to respond to market demand.

“The planning system has failed to respond to the demands of the housing market and as Kate Barker stated in her Review of Housing Supply, local authorities have few incentives to grant planning permission to developers.”

Linden Homes believes that if there are not enough suitable properties on the market, Gordon Brown’s shared equity schemes announced in May will only serve to push prices up higher by creating hundreds of thousands more potential owners while failing to provide enough new homes.

At a local level, planning agencies must remove barriers to housebuilding when there is a need to service demand, rather than simply strive towards their own housing targets without considering the wider picture.

Philip Davies continues: “Ironically, it is often the ‘nimby’ attitudes of parents opposing sensible development in their local area that can result in a shortage of starter homes for their children, forcing them to either stay at home or move somewhere more affordable. While first time buyers are one of the most vital ingredients in the recipe for a flourishing and stable housing market, so is a sufficient housing stock, therefore it is essential that the Government tackles the planning system and confronts this deficit.” 

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