Latest statistics from the English Property Survey show that property ownership is at its lowest since 1988. Down south currently only 66% of people own their own homes. But should this be a concern?

Every Englishman’s home may be his castle but does he have to own it, for many in today's global economy renting really does make more sense.

'Renting is throwing money away' is a common enough PR message pushed by estate agents trying to persuade people to take on a mortgage they probably can't afford

But is it really that clear cut? Over a standard 25 year mortgage the amount of interest being paid - granted assuming a 5% interest rate - only falls below 50% in the last five years of the mortgage. So for 20 years more than 50% of the monthly mortgage payment is what is really being 'thrown away'. 

Renting is cheaper when hidden costs such as extra insurances and maintenance are taken into account. If the current 20% minimum deposit combined with the extra money saved by renting is invested into a savings plan, over a 25 year period there would be a tidy nest egg.

For owning a home is not a savings plan. Over the past 100 years average house price growth has barely kept up with inflation, forget the bubble at the end of last century. Look at the stock market for real growth, it has outperformed house price growth at every level.

For the wider economy home ownership is no great shakes either. A population that rents is flexible and able to move around very quickly to take advantage of jobs and opportunities anywhere. Selling a house is an expensive and time consuming business and not entered into lightly.

Countries with low home ownership rates tend to be more entrepreneurial. People will invest money into businesses rather than into bricks and mortar. In the UK almost every spare penny is spent on reducing mortgages with little left over for ispeculating in business ventures. Germany, Europe's most successful country, only has a home ownership rate of 42%. In Ireland an obsession with property speculation and ownership nearly sunk the whole economy.

House prices are still falling in the UK. There are a unknown number of people in this country sitting on massive negative equity and with house prices likely to be rising a percentage point per year if at all for the foreseeable future it's going to take a long time for them to be in position to even break even. Why risk buying into something that will be worth less than the original price paid. 

Saying all that however, on balance, the fact that after it's eventually paid off a house is something tangible to pass on to the next generation probably sways it for most people.

But saving the difference between renting and buying taking in all the hidden costs of ownership and investing wisely could leave just as big a legacy.

Renting now has a stigma in Britain, it's for students and those who can't afford to buy, not owning is seen as failure. It's a view pushed almost unchallanged by estate agents' public relations machines among others.

It's time the benefits of long term renting had a wider airing again, houses are for living in not for speculating on. 

Home ownership falling