Forget Generation Rent, renting from cradle to grave becomes an ever more likely prospect for millions
Dubbed “Generation Rent”, it seems that nowadays more Britons are renting than buying property in the UK with The Joseph Rowntree Foundation predicting recently that 1.5 million extra 18-30 year-olds will be priced out of buying property over the next eight years. With this in mind, it appears that the idea of renting from “cradle to grave” is becoming ever more likely.
According to a study by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), tenants are staying longer than ever in their rental properties with the average tenancy in the UK now at a record high of 20 months.
Meanwhile many letting agents have seen an adjustment in the type of tenant enquiries they receive. No longer just attracting young, single people, ARLA discovered that around 55% of enquiries now derive from couples or young families. Disturbingly, millions of British families are entering a period in which renting becomes the norm as banks refuse to lend, house prices rise and wages drop with a report commissioned by the Resolution Foundation and Shelter from Cambridge claiming that over the past five years, there has been a massive 86% increase in families with children renting their homes.
However, it’s not just families who are settling for rental accommodation. HomeLet, the UK´s largest supplier of referencing to the lettings industry recently discovered that the percentage of tenants aged between 66 and 70 who have moved into rented accommodation from home ownership has increased by 41% compared to a year ago.
James Davis, CEO of UK lettings specialist Upad comments,
“It seems that more and more people are continuing to rent and could be for some time. For the average Joe, we often start our adult lives living in rented accommodation with the hope of buying our own home later down the line; however the credit crunch and high house prices have forced many potential homebuyers to remain as tenants and this doesn’t look set to change anytime soon.
“The figures really do speak for themselves with 18-30 year olds and families being priced out of the property market, struggling to raise enough for a deposit while older individuals downsize from home ownership into private rental accommodation as pension income and investments fall and reliance on the equity released from selling their homes becomes even greater. We really are renting from cradle to grave.”
It seems as though people’s attitude towards home ownership is shifting as it begins to look more and more like an unattainable aspiration. Data compiled by SpareRoom.co.uk recently showed that 48% of people admitted they would be happy to rent long-term if only there was less pressure in the UK to own a home.
Davis comments,
“For many hopeful property buyers in the UK, the dream of owning a home is looking like it could be exactly that – a dream. Unfortunately, people’s attitudes have had to change as Britons acknowledge renting as a “way of life”.
As one of the UKs largest and fastest growing letting agencies, Upad specialise in helping professional tenants rent properties from landlords directly by allowing landlords to manage their own viewings. Last year alone, 107,000 tenants asked Upad for help finding a home.
Upad’s tenant-finding services start from just £99 + VAT per property with an even cheaper rate for rooms. For more information please contact Upad, on 0333 240 1220 or visit www.upad.co.uk.