The number of people who own a second home, buy-to-let or overseas property has doubled since 2001 while the number of millennials who own a first home continues to fall.
Research by the Resolution Foundation has found just 37 per cent of people born in the 1980s managed to buy a home at the age of 29, compared with half of those born in the 1960s.
One in 10 people now own an additional property with buy-to-let purchases growing by 58 per cent since 2006-08.
However, when looking at the number of people who can afford an additional property, millennials match the property ownership rates of other generations.
This suggests that only younger people who are rich can afford a second home – a sign, according to the foundation, that property wealth is not distributed fairly across the country.
George Bangham, policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The sheer scale of additional property wealth is an important driver of rising wealth gaps across Britain.
“While young people in particular are less likely to own their own home than previous generations, those that do own are more likely to have more than one property.
“And as the huge stock of second homes, buy-to-let and overseas properties starts to be passed on to younger generations, Britain risks becoming a country where getting ahead in life depends as much on what you inherit, as what you earn.”