YOUNG people in Scotland have the highest chance of being able to afford to buy a home of anywhere in the UK, new research has revealed.

A report by the Resolution Foundation has found that more Scots are in a position to get on the housing ladder compared to other regions of the country, and the pandemic may actually have helped some people save for a deposit.

According to the ‘Hope to Buy’ research published today, around seven per cent of people aged between 25 and 34 met the requirements for buying their own home in Scotland – both earning enough and having enough in savings.

It explains that “insufficient savings are more of a biting constraint for young people wishing to access home ownership than inadequate earnings, though the most common situation is the combination of both.”

The report continues: “Young people in South West England and Scotland have the ‘highest’ chance of affording to buy (7 per cent have sufficient resources), compared to the lowest performer – the North East – at 3 per cent.”

READ MORE: Scottish homeowners least likely to stay put in property

Researchers Adam Corlett and Felicia Odamtten also found that Scotland has seen the smallest decline in youth home ownership in the last three decades, although it also started from the lowest level outside London.

The study compares data from 1989 to 2016, also examining 2006 and 2016.

They found that in 1989, around 39% of ‘family units’ aged between 25 and 34 had their own homes, compared to around 33% in 2019. In 2006, before the financial crash, home-ownership levels in Scotland were at their highest of around 42%.

Across the whole of the UK, the researchers have found that the biggest fall between 1989 and 2019 were among single people (from 24 to 11%) and low-income households (from 26 to 12%). Black young people have also seen their rates of home ownership more than halve, from 19% per cent in 2001 to 8% in 2019.

Focusing on the impacts of the pandemic on home ownership for young people, the Resolution Foundation report suggests it may have actually helped more people save.

It explains: “Many of those who have not suffered a pandemic-related income shock have been able to save considerable sums over the last 18 months” adding that people’s “restricted consumption” has led to household savings rising from 5% to around 14% in 2020.

The report authors added: “Working from home (during lockdowns) and the rise of hybrid working (in non-lockdown periods) has potentially allowed first-time buyers to purchase in cheaper areas further away from their jobs.

“Most promisingly, the number of first-time buyer mortgages (which mostly go to young people) has held up well over the last 18 months…

"Given that this indicator has broadly mirrored past changes in youth home ownership, it does not seem too optimistic to think that the issuance of almost 400,000 first-time buyer mortgages over the last year is consistent with youth ownership rates at least remaining flat since 2019.”

READ MORE: Scottish Government urged to restart Help to Buy for first-time homeowners

Mr Corlett, Principal Economist at the Resolution Foundation, has called for Boris Johnson to take “radical” action to address the low level of young people able to afford their own homes in other parts of the UK.

He told The Herald that in Scotland policy makers should focus on supporting home ownership, as well as “improving the private rental sector.”

Mr Corlett said: “Young people in Scotland haven’t seen the same dramatic falls in youth home ownership as the rest of the UK over the past three decades. But their chance of home ownership today is no higher than the UK average, with just one-in-three 25-34 year olds owning their home.

“Too many young people are having to rely on windfalls from others, or pooling resources with a partner, to get closer to owning. These options simply aren’t available for everyone, and more needs to be done to deliver a resurgence in youth home ownership.

“As well as supporting greater home ownership, which is what young people want, policy makers must also focus on improving the private rental sector, so that everyone has access to a secure and high-quality home – whether they own it or not.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Scotland continues to be a great place to buy a first home, with the average first time buyer spending almost £90,000 less for a property than those in England.

"This has been borne out by figures from the mortgage industry which show a strong increase in mortgage approvals for first-time buyers in Scotland.

“We are supporting home-ownership through our LIFT scheme, which helps people on low to moderate incomes to buy their first home, and our first-time buyer relief for Land and Buildings Transaction Tax means that an estimated eight out of ten first-time buyers will pay no tax at all.

“We are also leading the way in the delivery of affordable housing across the UK, having delivered more than 103,000 affordable homes since 2007, with a commitment to deliver a further 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.”