MPs sold on our manifesto policies
On Tuesday evening we marked the launch of the Renters’ Manifesto with a reception in Westminster. We were honoured to have both Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister, Emma Reynolds, and Cambridge’s Liberal Democrat MP, Julian Huppert, speak at the event and set out their priorities for reforming private renting.
Emma Reynolds MP and Julian Huppert MP address the Generation Rent launch reception
How to build loads of truly and permanently affordable homes, without spending any money
At Generation Rent, we’ve listened to lots of experts who have analysed the housing crisis and have come to a conclusion. The principle problem is that you can’t just buy or rent a home, you have to pay for an investment too. Some people say the problem is supply – and that’s true – but the supply problem exists because of the inability to supply homes that people need without charging them a high price because of a potential future investment return.
And so we’ve been looking at how you can decouple the investment value of a home for an investor from its utility value to the person living there. And we came up with this. Britain needs a second housing market. A bubble-free housing market for people who only want a home, sitting neatly alongside a free market for those people who want an investment.
And it turns out this could be implemented cheaply and easily and that it will save taxpayers money. We’ve made a short presentation here and written a paper, Buying out of the bubble.
So we’re calling for a secondary, bubble-free housing market – and we need your support to get politicians to adopt it and implement it. Join Generation Rent today (it’s free) and help us campaign for real, effective solutions to the housing crisis.
Cheers,
Alex
Controlling rents: A response to the private renting affordability crisis
Today Generation Rent has published a proposal for a flexible rent control policy, aimed first at London but applicable to anywhere where the rent is too high. Diane Abbott MP has kindly written the foreword.
The easy way to implement a national register of landlords
A low cost implementation of a National Register of Landlords
The last time the government seriously considered implementing a National Register of Landlords (more accurately a register of tenancies) it was estimated that the cost would be £300 million. The proposal was parked, however, we suspect this figure was derived by simply asking well known consultancy firms what they would charge to deliver it.
Generation Rent, and previously as the National Private Tenants Organisation, has been calling for landlord registration for years. This briefing outlines the principal benefit of a register and a low cost means for implementation.
Housing market slowing – unless you’re a first time buyer
Is house price inflation starting to slow? Across the whole market, it would seem so, with the Office for National Statistics finding inflation fell from 10.4% in May to 10.2% in June. That is still well above anything that’s remotely healthy – and house prices were already historically expensive, even after the 2008 crash.
But first time buyers have it particularly bad. If you want to buy a house, prices are now 12 percent higher than they were a year ago (in May inflation was running at 11.3%). For people who already own a house and want to move, they are seeing a slowdown – from 10% to 9.5%.
Housing costs hitting young workers the hardest
On Saturday our director Alex spoke at the Trade Union Congress’s Big Youth Debate, where he outlined the findings of a joint survey of 18-35 year olds that Generation Rent conducted with the TUC. We found that most young renters are living in unaffordable housing, while a third of young mortgage holders are being stretched.
The full details are below:
The Housing Enforcers: a documentary with respect for tenants
I don’t mind admitting that the thought of a TV programme presented by Matt Allwright (of Rogue Traders) and based upon lifting the lid on the work of UK housing officers filled me with dread. Would ‚ÄòThe Housing Enforcers’ be the ‚ÄòBenefits Street’ of the private rented sector? Who would Mr Allwright be directing his anger towards? Would a motorbike be involved? However, after the first episode, I feel rather more positive. Instead of simply cataloguing a whole list of tenant failings (my fear), this programme endeavoured to take a balanced and somewhat broad approach to the issue of how sometimes the places people live in are just not up to scratch.
It’s December…Rising Rents & Increased Homeless
Rising Rents & Increased Homelessness
Today there have been a range of statistics released on the private rented sector, mortgage lending and homelessness which confirm a fairly gloomy picture for those stuck privately renting.
Long overdue: Time to improve electrical safety for renters
Generation Rent was very happy to attend the launch of a new report on electrical safety in the private rented sector last week, entitled ‚ÄòHome Improvement: Tackling Poor Electrical Safety in the Private Rented Sector’.
A chance to protect tenants
Raising two young sons on her own, Venice Allan did not need extra worries about her housing situation.
“The flat we were in was in the basement and it was damp. After a few months black mould started to appear on the walls. That was bad enough for my sons’ health but then we discovered a live wire that needed fixing.