It is common knowledge that the banking crisis has made getting on the property ladder without a decent sized deposit almost impossible and now, after four years in which the rental market has soared, ‘Generation Rent’ are demanding more help from private landlords.
‘Generation Rent’ was the term coined to described those people – typically under 35 years old – who have had their home buying aspirations quashed by the economic climate and are now resigned to renting for the foreseeable future.
The problem ‘Generation Renters’ are facing – especially in areas where the rental market has overheated, such as London – is that existing tenants are staying put because they can’t get mortgages; websites, apps and portals are made redundant because 90 per cent of properties they list have already been rented, and poor-quality buildings that were never built to cope with the wear and tear of rental are all that’s on offer.
Slowly, councils and other interested organisations are beginning to make strides to ease the problems in the market. For example, the London Assembly began a “comprehensive review” of what it called “sky-high London rents” this month. But it has been claimed by consumer groups that more up-to-date information and easier access to new properties arriving on to the market are needed.
The situation is such that private landlords looking to increase the size of the property portfolios are finding that there are plenty ‘Generation Renters’ looking to rent decent properties. On the down-side, rising rents mean that there is potentially more risk of rental arrears. In fact, the charity Shelter has claimed that there has been a 70% rise in the court-ordered eviction of private tenants in the last three years.
