Industry News


Is renting really just for the young? Patrick Mooney looks at data that suggests significant changes in private renters are taking place


number of young adults forced into becoming tenants because they are unable to buy their own home. Mortgages have been scaled back to no more


I


than 75 per cent of the typical purchase price and 25 per cent deposits are simply unaffordable for most, unless the lucky person is well off or has generous parents. As a result the private rented sector has doubled in size since 2007/08. This perception of who private tenants are may


have been accurate, at one point, but several recently published studies and surveys have shown that demographics are changing quickly in the privately rented sector. Our social, care and housing policies need to catch up with quickly or we risk making an already difficult set of circumstances even worse.


A DIFFERENT CLIENTELE At present households comprising people aged over 65 account for less than 10 per cent of all those living in the private rented sector, but their numbers are reportedly rising very fast. A recent survey by the National Landlords


Association found the number of retired people in the UK moving into the private rented sector increased by more than 200,000 over the last four years and it is on a sharp upward curve. Meanwhile a cross party parliamentary group


specialising in ageing and older people has just completed an inquiry into their housing and concluded that the number of older people renting in the private sector will soar in coming years. Sadly it also concludes that many of them will be living in properties that do not meet their needs. “Many older people are already living in unsafe,


unsuitable and unhealthy accommodation with little hope of being able to move somewhere better or improve their homes,” said Rachael Maskell MP, who chairs the group. “Unless we work to find tangible solutions, older


people and some of the most vulnerable in society will continue to live in substandard and unsuitable accommodation, the implications of which could be devastating to their physical, mental and social wellbeing.”


COSTLY POOR CONDITIONS The cross-party group found that substandard housing is costing the NHS some £1.4bn every year with cold, damp and other hazards causing falls and exacerbating conditions such as heart disease, strokes, respiratory illnesses and arthritis as well as contributing to poor mental health among older people.


t’s a commonly held view that one of the main drivers for growth in the private rental market over the past decade has been a huge rise in the


rented dwellings had at least one Category 1 hazard; this was a higher proportion than owner occupied (13 per cent) and social rented homes (six per cent). This makes it all the more important for homes


to be built or adapted with mobility issues in mind. For instance how easy is it to get a wheelchair through the doorways and between rooms. While grants are available from local authorities


The English Housing Survey has repeatedly


found property conditions to be worst in the private rented sector. About a quarter (27 per cent) of private rented homes failed to meet the Decent Homes Standard in 2016/17. The comparative figure for the social rented sector was just 13 per cent. Another cause for concern is that the energy


efficiency and property insulation of PRS homes is much lower. In the most recently published results, the average SAP rating among private rented homes was 60, compared to 67 for social housing. Much of the difference is explained by the private


rented sector consisting of 'older' housing, which is generally less well insulated. This gap is narrowing slowly as a result of recently completed ‘build to rent’ housing schemes and the large stock of buy to let properties benefitting from double or triple glazing and higher levels of insulation.


FUTURE NEEDS The cross party group of MPs and Lords recommended a national housing strategy to help to improve housing standards for this and future generations of older people. Lady Greengross, a cross-bench peer said:


“Unless we work on sustainable solutions, vulnerable older people will continue to live in substandard accommodation, the implications of which could be devastating to their physical, mental and social wellbeing.” This raises major issues over the accessibility and


affordability of homes for rent, both now and in the future, for current and future generations. By accessibility we mean the ease with which we can enter and get around the inside of our homes. For an ageing population we do not want to see people trapped inside just one or two rooms of their home.


IMPROVEMENTS ARE REQUIRED In 2016/17, almost a quarter of privately rented households (23 per cent) reported a household member with a long-term illness or disability. Privately rented homes are also more likely to


fail the statutory minimum standard for housing. In 2016, 15 per cent (750,000) of private


to adapt properties for disabled people, these can be difficult to obtain, budgets are limited and the application process is often described as bureaucratic. There are usually strict conditions to comply


with and major changes, such as through floor lifts or installing wet rooms, can take a long time to organise and fit. Many landlords do not want physical


changes made to their properties, particularly if they believe these damage the value of their main assets and reduce the chances of them being sold at a later date.


RENTS ALSO NEED ADDRESSING By affordability we mean the cost of living in a property, where the rent remains the biggest and most important outlay for tenants. On average, private tenants spend 34 per cent of their household income on rent, whereas social renters spend an average of 28 per cent on rent. An increasing number of private tenants, both


those in work or who are retired, claim benefits to top-up their incomes. Local Housing Allowance is relied upon by more than 1.2 million households in the private rented sector, but it has been frozen since 2016 and will continue to be frozen until at least 2020. While problems in cities like London and


Manchester are well documented, campaigners are now citing cases in Swindon and Newbury where only two per cent of one-bedroom flats available on the private rental market are now affordable, and in Northampton just three per cent. Fewer than one in 10 three-bedroom family homes are affordable in Ipswich, Milton Keynes, Rugby, Luton and Cambridge. All of this adds up to a pretty dire state of


affairs particularly for our older generation. If the rising numbers of older, or mature private tenants are to be housed in safe and suitable homes, then we need to take some fairly drastic actions to increase the supply of affordable and decent rented housing. Otherwise we run the the risk of older people


continuing to live in substandard accommodation, the implications of which Lady Greengross warns us could be devastating to their physical, mental and social wellbeing.


www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM August/September 2019 | 23


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52