Three decades of housing ‘perspective’
Today, the Office for National Statistics released a three decade perspective on the housing market. They have observed six key trends spanning the decades
Fundraising Internship with Generation Rent
We currently have a fantastic opportunity for the right person with Generation Rent, helping us raise funds for the vital campaigning and community organising work that we do.
Making money like a landlord
Inspired by Savills’ findings on landlord capital gains last month, we decided to look at just what sort of money landlords in the UK are making – and how much we the taxpayer are helping them.
Introduction
As reported in the Guardian this morning, UK landlords make £77.7bn each year in rent and capital gains. This is more than Morocco’s GDP of £68.6bn (for a country of 33m people), making the industry the 61st largest economy in the world (UN 2013).
They are also subsidised to the tune of £26.7bn in tax breaks and housing benefit. That is higher than the £25bn of cuts that George Osborne claims are needed after the election. It is also more than our spending on the overseas aid budget of £10.3bn, job seekers allowance of £4.34bn, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s entire budget of £6.14bn, and the £1.13bn Affordable Homes Programme put together.
The cost of landlord subsidies to Britons is £1011 per household. That is the cost of a week’s holiday for four in Majorca, a 55″ HD TV, or a Boardman Road Team Carbon bike.
House prices remain as high as ever
Today the ONS released its latest House Price Index, showing UK house price inflation to the end of October 2014. Really, not much has changed. Whilst inflation has slowed a miniscule amount, falling from 12.1% in the year to September to 10.4% in the year to October, this is still a worryingly high figure for those struggling to buy their first home. Indeed, once seasonal adjustments have been taken into account, inflation has actually risen by 0.1%.
On Rent Freedom Day, poll shows scale of housing crisis
As hundreds of renters gathered in Westminster yesterday to take part in Rent Freedom Day, a new poll we commissioned from Survation revealed how big an impact housing could have on the election – if politicians made it a priority.
Almost two fifths of voters (38%) would back a party that made housing one of its top three priorities, the poll found. It also revealed that the housing crisis is now affecting a majority of Britons, with 57% saying they, or someone they know, is struggling to buy or rent a suitable home.
Half (50%) of private renters are struggling to buy, while 43% say they are struggling to rent a suitable home, indicating that their current situation is difficult to live with.
A third of home owners (35%) say they know someone who is struggling to buy, which shows that many of those with the security of their own home are aware that there is a problem.
Rent control could swing the vote in Scotland
The outcome of the General Election looks increasingly likely to be determined by the party who wins most seats in Scotland: Labour or the Scottish Nationalists. Some new polling from Survation suggests that a rent control policy could be the deciding factor.
When asked what effect a political party proposing rent control in their manifesto would have on voting intentions at the May General Election, 25% of Scots said it would make them more likely to vote for that party. Only 5% say they would be less likely to vote for a party that offered rent control.
Halifax Report: Generation Rent
Halifax’s annual Generation Rent report came out today, and the main finding is how renters are becoming resigned to their fate.
There were some positives with the highest number of first time buyers for 7 years, although we are a long way off the levels of half a million seen in 2002. However, there is little improvement in how potential first time buyer view their chances – with 79% of 20-45 year olds believing that banks don’t want to lend to first time buyers and 21% believing it is virtually impossible to obtain a mortgage.
What are the parties offering renters?
All five main UK-wide parties have now published their election manifestos. I took a trawl through them to dig out their plans for renters and the wider housing market.
Longer tenancies: busting some myths
Earlier this week we launched a campaign to improve security of tenure for private renters.
Achieving this is going to entail hacking through a thicket of special interests. Where it’s not the landlord replacing tenants every six months, it’s letting agents who want their annual renewal fee, or mortgage lenders demanding easy access to the property if the landlord does a runner.
Even deposit protection schemes – government-licensed organisations which supposedly exist to protect tenants – are throwing up roadblocks to reform by spreading misinformation.
What Natalie Bennett should have said
It was hard yesterday not to have some sympathy with Green Party leader Natalie Bennett after that painful interview. But coming unstuck on the numbers or not, it highlighted the point that they are the only party with a shot of winning seats (in England at least) that actually has a target for building significant numbers of social homes and which has identified private sector landlords as the ideal source for funding this.