Home ownership in England has fallen to its lowest level for 30 years, with nearly half of young adults now renting privately, official figures show.

The level of home ownership fell to 62.9 per cent last year, the lowest proportion since 1985 and eight points lower than the peak in 2003.

The figures also show that 46.1 per cent of people between the ages of 25 and 34 are renting privately, up from 24.2 per cent in 2005-06.

Overall, one household in five in England is living in private rented accommodation. The total number of privately renting households has swollen by around a million since 2010 to hit a post-1980 high of 4.5 million.

The English Housing Survey, released by the Department for Communities and Local Government, also found that private renters spend an average of 35 per cent of their income on housing, compared with 28 per cent for renters in council or housing association properties and 18 per cent for owner-occupiers.

Councils have issued a plea to Government for action to boost social housing, which declined to 17.2 per cent of households, after first falling behind the private rented sector in 2011-12.

Labour accused the Conservatives of presiding over “seven years of failure on housing”, pointing out that the total number of home owners has fallen by 200,000 on their watch, after rising during most of Labour’s time in office.