中国网站品牌栏目（频道）
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 Dashed dreams: Young adults have given up on their ambitions of owning a home. |
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Two in three people have given up their dream of owning a home, research shows. High prices, a shortage of homes and a mortgage drought are being blamed for driving a change in expectations. The credit crunch means that – as in Europe – future generations are more likely to rent their homes than buy them, researchers say. The overwhelming proportion – 77 percent – of those aged 20-45 want to own a home, according to the Generation Rent report published today. However, 64 percent of them believe they have no hope of ever doing so. The claims are based on a survey of 8,000 young adults by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), which was commissioned by the Halifax. It found that 84 percent of potential first-time buyers are put off by a belief banks do not want to lend to them. Some 92 percent see it as hard for first-time buyers to get a mortgage, with 60 percent saying it is very hard or impossible. And 67 percent believe there is little point in even applying. These concerns are backed up by the fact that the number of mortgages offered in April slumped to a record low. Just 29,355 house purchase loans were granted – 18 percent fewer than the same month last year. The evidence is that banks and building societies are refusing to lend at reasonable interest rates unless first-time buyers come up with huge deposits, which are often more than £30,000. The research found that 95 percent of young adults do not have any spare cash to save for this. A report published by housing charity Shelter yesterday showed 20 percent of young adults are moving back in with their parents. A similar proportion are giving up on having children to try to save the money needed for a deposit. NatCen researcher Alison Blackwell said: ‘The phenomenon of Generation Rent could open up a widening of the wealth gap that already exists between home-owners and non-homeowners. And people risk insufficient finances at retirement.’ (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
调查显示，三分之二的英国人已经放弃买房梦想。 高房价、住房短缺和按揭贷款紧缩是造成这一期望转变的原因。 研究人员称，在欧洲，信贷紧缩意味着未来几代人将更可能租房而不是买房。 根据今日发布的“租房一代”研究报告，年龄在20岁到45岁之间的英国人有77%希望有自己的房子，占了绝大多数。 然而，64%的人认为他们永远也没希望实现买房梦想。 这些结论是基于一项对8000名年轻人进行的调查做出的。该调查由金融机构哈里法克斯委托英国国家社会研究中心开展。 调查发现，84%的潜在首次购房者推迟购房是因为他们认为银行不会贷款给自己。 约有92%的人认为首次购房者要申请到按揭贷款比较困难，其中有60%的人称，要申请到按揭贷款十分困难或根本不可能。 67%的人认为就连申请本身都没什么意义。 这些担忧的事实依据是四月份提供的按揭贷款金额降到了历史最低点。 银行只批准了29355份买房贷款申请，比去年同期减少了18%。 事实是，银行和建筑协会拒绝以合理的利率发放贷款，除非首次购房者能够拿出巨额首付，通常在3万英镑以上。 调查发现，95%的年轻人没有任何余钱可以存起来买房。 住房慈善机构Shelter昨日发布的一份报告显示，20%的年轻人搬回去和父母一起住。同样比例的年轻人为了攒首付而放弃生小孩。 英国国家社会研究中心的研究人员艾丽森•布莱克韦尔说：“租房一代的现象会扩大有房者和无房者之间原本就存在的贫富差距。另一方面人们也面临退休后资金不足的风险。” 相关阅读 （中国日报网英语点津 陈丹妮 编辑：冯明惠） |
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Vocabulary: drought: a prolonged absence of something specified（长期短缺） credit crunch: a sudden sharp reduction in the availability of money or credit from banks and other lenders（信贷紧缩） |
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