Black Home Ownership Is Only Half The National Average. But Why?

A property expert has explained why the rate of black homeownership in England is only half the national average. You can watch him outline the shocking statistics here:

Getting on the property ladder in the modern day is no mean feat, and making that first step invariably requires a healthy dose of graft, patience and good fortune.

But government statistics published earlier this year revealed a huge disparity between home ownership rates among black people and the general population. While 63 percent of households in England were found to own their home, the percentage among the black community was just 32 percent.

You might deduce that this gulf can be attributed to the fact black communities haven't been established in England as long as others, meaning there's less scope for assets to be handed down between generations. However, the government data shows that homeownership rates among Pakistanis is 58 percent, while Indians are above the national average at 74 percent.

So what exactly is going on? Property expert and presenter Topsy Taiwo thinks it boils down to 'knowledge, cohesion and access'.

Speaking to LADbible, the 29-year-old said: "The first thing that can be done to tackle it is just increasing education and increasing property knowledge within the black community.

"I think culturally, we're less likely to talk about personal finance. And we're less likely to talk about ownership from a young age compared to our other social counterparts, who typically will have that conversation from a young age. So first thing I would say is, awareness, knowledge and education.

"Second thing I would definitely say is, when I say cohesion, I mean, if you look at other social groups, they're a lot better at working together as a community to increase their welfare as a whole.

"So I would definitely say, on our part, to try and come together be more collaborative, more platforms, more things like the Black Pound Day - which encourages spending on a black business on the first day of every month. More of that within our community, which is definitely getting better."

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But while there's plenty that can be done from the bottom up, Topsy believes the government could also be doing more to tackle systemic inequality.

He said: "The last thing affecting change is actual policy at government level, designed to encourage minorities in those communities to get into homeownership.

"Because a big part of why we're not there in the first place is also just down to the structural discriminations within society anyway, which are not just for black people, but also for women, and any other group that is minor, or discriminated against because of their race, gender, or creed.

"Things like grants or things like, you know, funding subsidies within that particular group to get them to get them onto the property ladder."

A Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government spokesperson told LADbible that £11.5 billion is being invested through the Affordable Homes Programme, which aims to provide 180,000 new homes between 2021 and 2026.

They added: "The Government is committed to restoring the dream of homeownership to people of all backgrounds and in all regions of country. This includes our new First Homes scheme which will provide homes at a discount of 30 percent for local first time buyers.

"Since 2010 government schemes such as Help to Buy and Right to Buy have helped over 649,000 households - including many thousands from BAME backgrounds - to buy homes."

Topics: UK News, Interesting, Property

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey