250,000 Would-Be Home-Owners Open Help To Buy Isa

The 250,000 total equates to one account every 30 seconds or more than 3,000 a day across the UK. The Government said figures provided by some of the banks offering the new Isas show that three-quarters (75%) of people who have opened them so far have been aged 30 and under. First-time buyers can put up to £200 a month in a dedicated Isa that the Government will top up by 25% - meaning a £ 50 bonus for every £200 saved. The maximum Government bonus is £3,000. To receive that, someone will need to have saved £12,000.First-time buyers can also open their account with a one-off lump sum of up to £1,000 in addition to the monthly £200 maximum deposit. Read more on the Express & Star website.

Almost A Third Of All Spending By Under-30s Goes On Housing

Housing accounts for almost a third of all spending in households headed by someone under 30, compared to less than 20 per cent for those aged 50 to 74, according to the Resolution Foundation.

The RF analysis of the latest ONS figures show that:

·         The essentials of housing and food account for 43% of spending among the poorest fifth of households, compared with 29% among richest fifth.

·         Despite having disposable incomes more than six times higher than those in the poorest 20%, the richest fifth of households only spend just over three times as much.

·         This ratio drops to just 1.6 in relation to food & drink and 2.6 in relation to housing (even after accounting for Housing Benefit). But higher income households spend significantly more on household goods (4.1 times as much), recreation and leisure (4.5) and transport (4.9).

Read more on the Resolution Foundation website.

Incoming MPs Fear Young Will Rent For Life

Just before the General Election, a new poll of future MPs has revealed that nine in 10 (89%) are worried that most under-30s in their constituency will not be able to afford to buy a home in a decade’s time. This echoes young people’s concerns that they will be renting for life. The ComRes poll of sitting MPs and parliamentary candidates most likely to win their seats also found that almost seven in 10 (68%) future MPs would like the leader of their own party to do more to tackle the county’s housing challenges. Renting for life is an increasingly realistic prospect for many young people as the average deposit required soars to almost 10 times the deposit required in the 1980s (adjusted for inflation). Over the last two decades, the private rented sector has almost doubled; one in five households (18%) is rented from a private landlord. Read more on the NHF website.

'Generation Rent' Suffers 10% Drop in Wages under Coalition, Claims Labour

Employees under the age of 30 have suffered a real-terms drop in weekly wages of around 10% under the coalition, according to an analysis released by Labour. Earnings for 18-to 21-year-olds have dropped by 10.3% since 2010, while 22-to 29-year-olds saw their weekly income fall by 9.4%, research by the House of Commons library shows. Chris Leslie, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said young workers are bearing an increasingly heavy burden as a result of coalition measures and neglecting them would put Britain's future prosperity in peril. A Labour government would set up a panel to assess the impact of its policies on the under-35s, often described as "generation rent" because they struggle to get on the housing ladder. Read more on the Guardian website.