Millennials have often been portrayed as the hopeless generation.
They struggle to get on the property ladder, they’re careering towards a midlife crisis, apparently they’re failing to prepare for retirement and they were patronisingly dubbed the ‘avocado generation’ by their elders.
But in news we thought would never come, Millennials’ perseverance has paid off, and they are now set to become the ‘richest generation in history’.
Yes, you read that right. A ‘massive transfer of wealth and assets’ from the silent generation, born 1925 to 1945, baby boomers, born 1946 to 1964, and even the older people from Generation X, born 1965 to 1979, is set to make millennials rich.
These findings, which will be published in the annual Wealth Report released by Knight Frank, showed the older generations have more than £2.5 trillion tied up in their homes, so when they die, Mmillennials will benefit from inheritances, according to the Times.
This will allow them to put that first foot on the property ladder and break out of the cycle of funnelling money into landlords’ pockets.
The catch? It’ll be two decades before we see this begin to happen, meaning by the time millennials are getting to retirement age, only then will they possibly have the chance to inherit that wealth.
It also goes without saying that not everyone has the luxury of an inheritance which will give them a cash leg-up.
An analysis by Savills found that those older than 65 have £2.588 trillion in equity tied up in property — £2.183 trillion in residential properties and £405 billion in rental — while only being £147 billion in mortgage debt.
By contrast, at the moment, those aged 35 to 49 have £1.058 trillion of property equity and £676 billion of debt — while the under-35s,made up of millennials and Generation Zbeneath it, have £306 billion of equity, but £317 billion of debt.
It’s all well and good knowing that for a lot of millennials, some inherited wealth is (very far) in the future, but what about the right here and now?
Does even projecting about my parents’ death sound callous? It feels like I’ve been forced into thinking about the prospect
For 31-year-old millennial Alexander Bennet, he’s unfortunately got to wait those two or three decades before he can think about owning a property.
He wrote for Metro: ‘Right now, depressing as it sounds, the most likely chance of me or many of my generation owning any assets, or scrap of a house, is when our parents die.
‘They were playing an entirely different game when they got on the property ladder, even if they had low-paying jobs. My father was a ground worker and my mother worked in retail when they bought their first house, but they could still own one.’
Alexander’s parents have separated so he’ll split the two houses he’ll inherit with his sister.
‘Does even projecting about my parents’ death sound callous? Well, it feels like I’ve been forced into thinking about the prospect and how life will change after it,’ he added.
‘If a third of your income is going to a landlord, you simply do not have enough money to live a reasonable quality of life and put money aside for a future house deposit.
‘In reality, you need to inherit assets – in the form of your parents’ home, possessions and any wealth accrued during their lifetimes of hard work – to sell and combine into a deposit to get onto the property ladder. You’re essentially handing over the souls of those who created the home you grew up in to gain your own.’
We’re not supposed to be hurtling toward 40 still waiting for someone, somewhere, to die
It was only December last year when millennials were told they will ‘likely be renting into retirement’, after figures showed the number of tenants had jumped by a quarter since 2010.
This record-breaking surge in tenants will increase by £8 billion by the end of the year, from £77.6 billion to £85.6 billion – a figure that has doubled in 13 years.
The bleak warning to millennials – defined as those around 35 years old by the report – comes as new research by Hamptons showed they make up almost half (44%) of the country’s rental market.
Millennials spent a record £36.8 billion on rent in 2023 because of higher mortgage rates forcing them to rent for longer.
Millennial Jacob Hawley, now 32, is in the same position as Alexander and shared his frustrations with the lack of money he’s able to save now, after 12 years of having to rent in London.
Writing for Metro, he said: ‘I’ve not really bothered to consider the possibility of owning a flat. Making ends meet as a renter has been difficult enough; I save for annual water bills rather than deposits.
‘Rather than building a spreadsheet of my earnings, cutting out the coffees and designing a multi-decade master plan geared towards one day having a mortgage, I just get by, safe in the knowledge that one day I might inherit something.’
Jacob and his partner worked out they could buy a small flat on the outskirts of London but it would be very difficult and they wouldn’t be near any friends or family, and they wouldn’t live in an area they liked.
‘My generation live in a bleak middle ground that was never designed, never forecast – we’re not supposed to be hurtling toward 40 still waiting for someone, somewhere, to die, so that we can have somewhere to live.
‘None of us are “deciding” not to rent… We cope, we get by, and on a good day we manage to laugh about it all.’
It seems many millennials have indeed accepted defeat when it comes to owning property and have other priorities to distract from the depressing reality.
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For 25 to 40 year olds,holidays are the single biggest priority, with almost 40% of saying it was their primary financial focus, followed by money for material goods and saving for a home.
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