Over a million people in Britain say they have delayed having children because of a lack of affordable housing, according to new research from Shelter Scotland and Shelter.

The leading housing and homelessness charity says its Life Stages Report conducted by YouGov shows that one in four (26 per cent) of 18-30 year olds – equivalent to 1.4 million people nationwide – say that the lack of affordable housing has led them to delay having children.

One in five 31-44 year olds who currently don’t have any children – equivalent to 1.1 million people nationwide –say they are delaying starting a family because of the lack of affordable housing.

Shelter Scotland says this is a 63 per cent increase among 31-44 year olds from the last time the Life Stages survey was conducted in 2009 (2).

According to the research more 26 per cent of those delaying having children say they have been doing so for five years or more.

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Gordon MacRae, Head of Communications and Policy at Shelter Scotland, said: "The lack of secure and affordable housing in Scotland is having an impact at every level of Scotland’s society.

"Sadly, an increasing number of people are finding that despite working hard and saving hard, they’re still priced out of a secure and affordable home, trapped in private rented housing where landlords can evict them with little notice or raise the rent at any time. We know that many simply don’t think this is a stable environment to raise a family.

"The Scottish Government has a responsibility to act now to ensure that today’s young people and the generation after them are not denied something as basic as the right to a family life with a safe, affordable and secure home to raise their children in.

"Scotland needs to build more affordable homes to ensure the aspirations of an entire generation are not squandered. It’s time to end Scotland’s housing crisis for good."

According to Shelter Scotland a lack of socially-rented homes, high house prices and the large deposits required by lenders mean that growing numbers of people are unable to buy a home.

Recent figures show that one in three first time buyers is now over the age of 37 (3). Those who bought their first home in the early 1960s were on average 23 years old.

Meanwhile 272,653 of families and individuals in Scotland now call the private rented sector home. By 2020, one in five UK households is expected to rent privately.

(GK)