We’ve heard of ‘right-to-buy’, but what about ‘right-to-rent’?

When did home ownership become ‘the norm’ in the UK?

I found myself asking this question in response to a Chartered Institute of Housing report, released at the weekend, predicting that Britain’s “golden age of home ownership” is coming to an end. Needing deposits in excess of £40,000 in the more expensive parts of the country, a generation of young people faces a lifetime of renting rather than buying.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that it was the post-war ‘baby boom’ generation that first embraced home ownership and this backed up by official statistics. A quick Google search shows that owner-occupation rates in this country stood at 32% in 1953, rising steadily before peaking at just over 70% in 2000. The current rate has fallen back slightly since then to around 68%.

I’ve written before about the UK’s rates of owner-occupation and how they compare with countries such as Germany that have more of a renting culture. But what really intrigued me within the report was the talk of the “in-betweens” – the group of people earning between £12,000 and £25,000.

Too affluent to qualify for social accommodation (the waiting list for this type of housing is 1.8 million), but not affluent enough to be able to afford to buy, this group is exactly who should be targeted by a nascent institutional private rented sector.

The problems are compounded when the state of the nation’s private rented housing stock is taken into consideration. Government figures indicate that 40% of homes in the sector are “non-decent”, with problems such as damp, inadequate bathrooms / kitchens and broken windows.

For the “in-betweens”, institutional involvement in the private rented sector would be a godsend, providing clean, well-maintained and attractive housing from a company and brand that they trust. While home ownership should of course remain as an aspiration, renting must be seen as a positive choice rather than a last resort.

Sarah Webb, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, says in the report that the UK must move away from the notions of “right-to-buy” and “wrong-to-rent”. An effective institutional private rented sector, backed up by Government support and, where necessary, tax breaks, will be a significant step in establishing this ethos.