The dream of home ownership for middle income Britain, individual buyers and those unable to draw on family wealth will be over in the next decade without urgent action, according to a new study from Bank Santander.

The Government, housing industry and mortgage industry need to act or owning a home will become possible only for wealthy young first time buyers, says the lender.

The vast majority of young people want to buy a home with nine in 10 aspiring to home ownership but by 2026 just one in four under 34s will achieve that goal, says the national survey of 5,002 non-home owners aged 18 to 40 years.

Over half, some 51%, of those surveyed said that owning their own home is one of their top life goals but 70% of potential first time buyers believe that the dream of home ownership is already over for many young people, with 64% expecting home ownership to fall for future generations.

The study finds that the sharpest fall in first time buyers has been among those on middle incomes, taken as earning between £20,000 and £30,000 in 2019, with home ownership rates falling from 65% in 1996 to 27% two decades later.

Of the new buyers entering the market today, 64% have household incomes of more than £40,000 and just 16% are individual buyers.