Ethnicity and homeownership

This study, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to investigate the racial housing wealth gap in the UK, reveals the enduring inequalities experienced amongst racialised minorities in the UK in accessing homeownership, securing mortgage financing, amassing housing wealth, and buying and maintaining a home of adequate quality. 

The research, by the University of Stirling and Sheffield Hallam University, found that, compared to White, Indian and Pakistani communities, Black and Bangladeshi communities are far less likely to be homeowners, and that they encounter “enduring inequalities” when securing mortgage financing and amassing housing wealth. 

And reviewing housing and homeownership policies – such as Right to Buy – the evidence indicates that when compared to White British households, minoritised ethnic groups (particularly, Black British, Black Caribbean and Bangladeshi groups) are more likely to rent their own home and have lower housing wealth. While not specific to older people, it nonetheless reveals that the impact of enduring and historic legacies of racial discrimination has also determined the process of residential disadvantage and ethnic segregation.