FAMILY EDUCATION TRUST

PRESS RELEASE

Issued: 14 May 2026

Family Education Trust publishes a major new report today by the demographer Lyman Stone of the Institute for Family Studies, with a foreword by the former Conservative MP and GB News presenter Miriam Cates, alongside fresh public-attitudes polling. The findings are unambiguous: family-sized housing is one of the single biggest barriers to British family formation, and the public knows it.

Today the Family Education Trust publishes "Britons Want Family-Friendly Flats: survey evidence shows the housing market weighs on fertility", a major new report by the demographer Lyman Stone of the Institute for Family Studies, with a foreword by the former Conservative MP and GB News presenter Miriam Cates.

The report draws on a new survey of 2,086 UK adults aged 18 to 54, conducted by Whitestone Insight, a British Polling Council member. It finds that Britons still want families of around two children, but that the housing market offers them small flats instead of family homes, and that the gap between the families Britons want and the families Britons get has never been wider.

Alongside the report, the Family Education Trust today also publishes new public-attitudes polling that confirms the country is overwhelmingly behind the family-housing agenda.

What the new Lyman Stone report finds

·       Britain has a record low fertility rate of 1.41 children per woman, yet Britons say they would be happiest with around 2.1 to 2.2 children. The gap between what Britons want and what Britons have has never been greater.

·       Young adults today are far less likely to own a home than their parents were, and far more likely to live in small flats. The housing mix is at odds with the family lives Britons say they want.

·       When parents and would-be parents think about having a baby, they consistently place bedrooms, gardens, schools and short commutes ahead of almost every other housing feature.

What the new Whitestone Insight poll finds

The Whitestone Insight poll of 2,086 UK adults, conducted on 6 to 7 May 2026, shows public alignment with the report's diagnosis is overwhelming. Across eight areas covering family-sized homes, family-friendly planning and the experience of housing pressure, the public agrees by margins ranging from 30 to 72 points:

·       81 per cent believe that the cost and availability of family homes is making it harder for people to marry and start families. Just 9 per cent disagree.

·       74 per cent say that the type and size of housing available has a major impact on people's decisions about having children.

·       73 per cent want new housing developments to include a higher proportion of family-sized homes.

·       65 per cent want planning rules to prioritise three-bedroom homes in new developments, so that families can put down roots.

·       65 per cent agree that too many new homes are small flats unsuitable for raising families.

·       64 per cent agree that improving access to affordable family-sized housing would encourage more people to marry and have children.

·       More than half the public, 52 per cent, personally know young people or couples who are delaying having children because they cannot afford a suitable home.

·       50 per cent agree that Britain is building too many one and two-bed flats compared to family homes.

Comment

Dr Tony Rucinski, Chair of the Family Education Trust, said:

"Britain is not anti-family. Britain cannot afford to be a family. Eighty-one per cent of the country says housing costs are stopping people from starting families. Sixty-five per cent want planning rules rewritten to prioritise three-bedroom homes. The strongest cross-party consensus in British politics right now is that we are building the wrong houses. Family-sized homes for a family-sized country. The Family Education Trust is publishing this report and this poll today to put that case to government, to planners and to housebuilders."

From the foreword by Miriam Cates, former Conservative MP and GB News presenter:

"The cost of housing in the UK and our current inability to build enough of it is a frequent topic of political debate. Yet this report provides evidence of what we all instinctively suspect: Britain has a severe lack not just of housing stock in general, but specifically of the kind of housing that would enable more people to have children. If Britain wants more babies, we must build baby build."

Download the full report here.Britons want Family Friendly Flats

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. About the Family Education Trust

The Family Education Trust is a UK educational charity (registered charity number 1070500) that researches the causes and consequences of family breakdown and promotes the welfare of children in stable families. Registered office: 7 Bell Yard, London WC2A 2JR. Telephone: 01784 242340. Web: familyeducationtrust.org.uk.

2. About the new Lyman Stone report

"Britons Want Family-Friendly Flats: survey evidence shows the housing market weighs on fertility", by the demographer Lyman Stone of the Institute for Family Studies, with a foreword by Miriam Cates, is published today by the Family Education Trust. The report is based on a survey of 2,086 UK adults aged 18 to 54, conducted by Whitestone Insight (a British Polling Council member). Print copies are available at the Family Education Trust annual conference; a digital copy is available on request.

3. About the Whitestone Insight poll

Whitestone Insight surveyed a representative sample of 2,086 UK adults online on 6 to 7 May 2026. Data were weighted to be representative of all UK adults. Whitestone Insight is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Full data tables are available on request.

4. Press contact and available spokesperson

Lucy Marsh of the Family Education Trust is available for interview, comment, advance access to the full poll tables, and any further information. Email lucy.marsh@familyeducationtrust.org.uk or telephone 01784 242340.