Absolute housing mobility
Published: 12 September 2023
Data on the link in home ownership between people in the UK and their parents.
Summary main findings
In the period from 2016 to 2020, 71% of people whose parents were homeowners also owned their own home. 46% of people whose parents were not homeowners owned their own home.
Women were less likely than men to own their own homes. Among people whose parents were homeowners, 64% of women and 75% of men owned their own home. Among people whose parents were not homeowners, 35% of women and 55% of men owned their own homes.
Disabled people were less likely than non-disabled people to own their own homes. Among people whose parents were homeowners, 61% of disabled people and 74% of non-disabled people owned their own home. Among people whose parents were not homeowners, 34% of disabled people and 53% of non-disabled people owned their own home.
Home ownership was lowest in London out of all UK regions. 60% of people in London whose parents were homeowners owned their own home, compared with 35% of people whose parents were not homeowners.
Among people whose parents were not homeowners, home ownership was highest in the South West (where 54% of people owned their own homes) and Wales (52%).
By home ownership status of parents
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 64 year olds who owned their own homes, by ownership status of their parents (UK, 2016 to 2020 combined)
Data
| Ownership status | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Parents are homeowners | 70.9 |
| Parents are not homeowners | 46.2 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By area
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 64 year olds who owned their own homes, by area where respondents live and ownership status of their parents (UK, 2016 to 2020 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Region | Parents are homeowners (%) | Parents are not homeowners (%) |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 70.6 | 48.3 |
| East of England | 72.7 | 45.4 |
| London | 59.6 | 35.3 |
| North East | 72.2 | 45.3 |
| North West | 72.1 | 45.6 |
| Scotland | 73.1 | 49.7 |
| South East | 74.9 | 47.8 |
| South West | 72.7 | 54.0 |
| Wales | 72.2 | 51.9 |
| West Midlands | 72.3 | 46.9 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 73.0 | 43.5 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By sex
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 64 year olds who owned their own homes, by sex of respondent and ownership status of their parents (UK, 2016 to 2020 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Ownership status | Men (%) | Women (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Parents are homeowners | 75.1 | 63.9 |
| Parents are not homeowners | 54.9 | 34.9 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By disability status
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 64 year olds who owned their own homes, by disability status of respondent and ownership status of their parents (UK, 2016 to 2020 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Ownership status | Disabled (%) | Not disabled (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Parents are homeowners | 60.7 | 73.6 |
| Parents are not homeowners | 34.2 | 53.5 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Office for National Statistics, Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS)
Time period
2016 to 2020 (combined)
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the relationship in home ownership between people aged 25 to 64 years in the UK and their parents.
Things you need to know
Data is weighted using the WAS individual weights.
Data analysed by area uses the area where respondents live now, not where they grew up.
The error bars show 95% confidence intervals. These intervals show where we expect the true value from a population to be 95% of the time. For example, a confidence interval with the range of values from 5 to 10 implies that there is a 95% chance that the true population value is between 5 and 10, and a 5% chance that it is outside of this range. The narrower the confidence interval or range, the more precise the estimate. Read more about confidence intervals
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
State of the Nation 2024 does not include updates to this page.
Read more about mobility outcomes in State of the Nation 2023 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 6KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area code
- Area name
- Area type
- Age
- Socio-economic background
- Category type
- Category
- Value
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Sample size
- Time period
- Unit
- Sex
Page history
Publication release date:
12 September 2023