Generation Rent (eBook)

Chloe Timperley lives in Sheffield. For Generation Rent, she interviewed MPs, economists and activists, went undercover at a property investment conference, joined a tenants' union, and attended seminars on everything from ending homelessness to evicting tenants. Most importantly, she listened to the stories of hundreds of tenants.

 PREFACE . Generation Rent is ultimately the story of how the UK turned its youth into an asset class. In the late 20th to early 21st centuries, housing went from basic good to financial asset. Our homes went from being a store of wealth for occupiers to a store of wealth for landlords and speculators

SECTION I. TRYING TO BUY A HOME
CAN'T BUY, WON'T BUY.  Why Olivia and Izaak, an ordinary couple in their twenties with good jobs, cannot buy a home in the UK. Like their friends. At the peak of the homeownership dream, in 2007, 73 per cent of the population owned their own home. A decade later, in 2016, the figure was 63 per cent

'REFUSING TO LEAVE HOME' . An older generation is blaming young people for still living with their parents, but the reality is that homes are too expensive to buy. Private renters are expected to outnumber people with a mortgage by 2025. Unfortunately, privately rented homes are often poor quality

A SHORT HISTORY OF BRITISH HOMES.  Looking at land use and tenure in the UK the Norman Conquest to the late 1970s, focussing on the post-war 'Golden Age' when the UK government and local authorities embarked on widespread building programmes that created mostly high-quality council housing

SELLING OFF COUNCIL HOMES.  When the post-war consensus crumbled, Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government launched the Right to Buy in 1981, giving council tenants the ability to buy their municipal home at a discount. It was wildly popular. But it led to less council housing and higher rents

BOOM! THE IMPACT OF CREDIT.  Most people answer the question 'Why is there a housing crisis?' with one or both of these reasons: a) We aren't building enough houses b) There too many people in the UK. But the real answer is a massive expansion of credit unleashed with financial liberalisation

SAY HELLO TO THE LANDLORD.  Previously pushed out by rent controls and limited supply in the 20th Century until the 1970s, the number of landlords rose from the Thatcher era onwards. Buy-to-let mortgages increased the number of private investors buying homes, often pricing out first-time buyers

CAUGHT IN THE MORTGAGE TRAP.  Affordability tests bar renters from getting a mortgage - even though they are paying more in rent than they would by buying a home. In 2018, the Santander bank found that renting a home anywhere in the UK was more expensive than owning one. London had the biggest gap.

SECTION II. HELP FOR BUYERS
THE BANK OF MUM AND DAD.  increasingly and significantly for the country's house prices, parents are handing over large lump sum gifts that can be put down as a deposit on a home that would be otherwise unaffordable. If BOMAD were a real bank it would be the 11th biggest in the UK

OFFICIAL HELP TO BUY.  Assessing the Government help available for first-time buyers, including the Help to Buy Mortgage Guarantee, the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme, the Help to Buy ISA, and the Lifetime ISA. Have these schemes worked by helping more young people buy a house?

SHARING A HOME.  Shared ownership allows people to buy between 25 per cent and 75 per cent of a home and pay rent on the remaining share. Although a good idea, one scheme, HomeBuy Direct, does not always work. What happens when housing associations abuse their power?

MORTGAGED TENANTS.  Most people who own homes in England and Wales are 'freeholders,' but some are 'leaseholders' - and they can be exploited with ruses such as the doubling ground rent scandal, a symptom of the growing financialisation of home-buyers and tenants

THE HOMEOWNERSHIP DREAM SOURS.  For a time, owning a home was a great social leveller. Fast-forward to 2020, and that same 'homeownership dream,' even when fulfilled, no longer promises the same sort of freedom. Today's first-time buyers are often mortgaged up to the eyeballs

SECTION III.