One of the country's biggest building societies is calling on the Government to intervene amid the ongoing property crisis

Yorkshire Building Society has issued a stark warning that Britain risks drifting towards a "lost generation of homeowners" without urgent intervention.

Fresh research from the mutual lender reveals a widening chasm between people's desire to own property and their confidence that such a goal remains achievable.

The findings, published in the Society's report titled No way home? Restoring Britain's Housing Ladder, demonstrate that belief in reaching the property ladder plummets dramatically once people pass their mid-forties.

With the eldest millennials now hitting 45, the building society suggests this age marks a critical threshold where those who have not yet purchased a home begin abandoning hope of ever doing so.

Among those aged 25 to 34, three-quarters harbour ambitions to purchase property, dropping to 59 per cent for the 35 to 44 bracket.

This figure collapses to just 38 per cent for those between 45 and 54, with merely a fifth of 55 to 64-year-olds clinging to hope.

Yet this stands in sharp contrast to the 88 per cent of British adults who consider homeownership important, making it among the nation's most universally shared aspirations.

Tom Simpson, managing director of homes at Yorkshire Building Society, said: "Britain hasn't fallen out of love with homeownership far from it. People still see owning a home as central to their stability, their security and their future. But what's changing is belief."

Mr Simpson added that for many individuals, particularly those who have not purchased by their late 30s, the dream begins to feel unattainable.

The report, drawing on responses from more than 4,000 UK adults alongside economic modelling, identifies multiple obstacles crushing homeownership hopes.

These include the struggle to accumulate deposits, affordability constraints, uncertainty about navigating mortgage applications, insufficient housing stock, and prohibitive costs associated with moving.

Research shows that, while the perceived benefits of owning property grow stronger over time, faith in actually achieving it diminishes sharply with age.

Some 59 per cent of renters and prospective buyers link ownership with stability, a figure that climbs to 70 per cent among second-time buyers and 77 per cent of established homeowners.

The Society's blueprint for reform centres on several key interventions, including a comprehensive review of Stamp Duty Land Tax and the reintroduction of a revamped Help to Buy scheme following the original programme's discontinuation.

Mr Simpson said: "Fixing the housing ladder isn't just about helping people take their first step it's about making sure they can move through it as their lives change.

"We need Government, industry and lenders to come together as they never have done before, to create a system that works from start to finish."