Beyond Generation Rent: Understanding the Aspirations of Private Renters aged 35-54

McKee, K., Soaita, A. M. and Munro, M. (2019) Beyond Generation Rent: Understanding the Aspirations of Private Renters aged 35-54. Project Report. UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence, Glasgow.

Abstract

The private rented sector (PRS) has more than doubled in the UK over the last 20 years and is now home to more than 4.5 million households (ONS 2019: 3). Once a housing tenure associated with students and mobile young professionals, it is now increasingly housing, long-term, a more diverse range of tenants including families with children and lowerincome groups. Whilst much of the policy and political focus has been on young people – the so called ‘Generation Rent’ (Hoolachan and McKee 2019; McKee and Soaita 2018; McKee et al., 2017; Hoolachan et al., 2017; Christophers 2017; Cole, Powell and Sanderson 2016; McKee 2012) – the number of older households in the PRS is also on the rise (Rugg and Rhodes 2018: 63; DWP 2019). Yet renters over 35 remain a relatively under-studied age group by comparison. This qualitative study seeks to address this key research gap. It follows on from our previous research on ‘Generation Rent’ (McKee and Soaita 2018). Whilst research with young renters underscores the combined challenges of unaffordability, insecurity and poor-quality standards (see for example, McKee and Soaita, 2018), there is much less evidence in the UK context about the extent to which these are also issues for older, middleaged private renters. Enhancing our understanding of tenant experiences across the lifecycle is critical to ensuring policy interventions are appropriate for all age groups. Whilst young people under 35 are the largest segment within the PRS, focusing only on the challenges they face runs the risk that older renters, often with children, are ignored in policy terms. Yet the growing numbers of people entering older age now and, in the future, as private renters, is something that government(s), landlords and tenants themselves must confront.

• Item Type: Research Reports or Papers (Project Report)
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Munro, Professor Moira and Soaita, Dr Adriana Mihaela
• Authors: McKee, K., Soaita, A. M., and Munro, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
• Publisher: UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence