Generation Rent and the
‘Fallacy of Choice’
UK Population Change & Housing After the Lifecourse
16-17 June 2015
Dr Kim McKee, Director
Centre for Housing Research
Department of Geography & Sustainable Development
University of St Andrews
1
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Outline
– The Rise of Generation Rent
– Fallacy of Choice
– Diversity YP’s Experiences
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Acknowledgements
– Leverhulme Programme Grant: Mind the
(Housing) Wealth Gap (Co-I, Searle PI)
– Carnegie Small Grant: Housing Generation
Rent (PI, with Hoolachan)
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THE RISE OF
GENERATION RENT
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Over 40 per cent YP (h/holds headed U35s)
now living in PRS; geo variations (Table1)
Phenomena ‘Generation Rent’ – living in PRS
longer; priced out of homeownership; ‘jilted
generation’ (Howker & Malik 2010)
Reflects protracted & fractured nature of
youth transitions to adulthood (Molgat 2007)
Increasing complexity & fragmentation of
YP’s housing pathways (McKee and Hoolachan
2015; Cole et al 2015; Clapham et al 2012)
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Table 2: Changing Housing Tenure Structure in Scotland (SOURCE: CASD 2014:
5)
Table 1: Households Headed by U35s in Scotland (CASD 2014)
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Trends mirrored in wider UK adult population;
shifting tenure structure since 2007 (Table 2)
Balance in rental sector changing; esp. sig. in
Scotland given historically larger SRS
PRS no longer transitional tenure students/
young profs; final destination for many YP
Increasingly diverse sector: housing families
with children + low income h/holds due to
changes in SRS and impact welfare reform
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Table 2: Tenure change in Scotland, 1999-2013 (CASD 2014)
1999
2006
2013
Owner-occupied
61
66
61
Social Housing
32
25
23
Private Rented
5
8
13
Other
2
2
2
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FALLACY OF CHOICE
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Debates about ‘normalisation’ homeownership
well document in HS literature (see, McKee 2011;
Flint & Rowlands 2003; Gurney 1999; Ronald
2008; Saunders 1990)
Tenure preferences vary cross-nationally; linked to
welfare regimes (Kemeny 1981); key to assetbased welfare (McKee 2012; Lowe et al 2012)
Homeownership strongly attributed to:
– Financial security asset ownership
– Investment now and for the future
– Greater sense autonomy, freedom & control
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YP constructed this normalised ideal as a
‘fallacy of choice’ (McKee’15); not achievable in
reality
Expressed frustration at unaffordability housing
Felt ‘trapped’ and consigned to PRS for
foreseeable future (quote)
Unhappy at cost, quality & security in PRS
Not just perceived as a ‘housing problem’; linked
to their vulnerable labour mkt position (quote)
Impact of welfare reform on low-income h/holds
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“I just think renting is a waste of money.
And it would obviously (be) ideal to get your
own house and pay off your mortgage; but I
could never do something like that because
of my situation. I feel I’m never going to get
out of that and I’ll constantly be renting”
(PRS, 19, Edinburgh)
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“Locally here the economy’s pretty flat and
there’s not a lot to cement younger people
here, because the jobs aren’t here. So if
there’s no jobs they can’t access the
housing; they’re alternatively dependent
on housing benefit or low-wage part-time
work and that’s difficult to get the
wherewithal to satisfy the mortgage
company” (Housing Expert 10)
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DIVERSITY OF YOUNG PEOPLE’S
EXPERIENCES
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Need to problematise idea ‘Generation Rent’;
masks diversity YP’s experiences
Significant intra-generational inequalities esp
role family-support
Family support displayed many forms
–
–
–
–
Financial gifts/loans, of large or small sums
Space in parental home, no/subsidised cost
Services, including DIY, childcare, transport
Family bonding, paid holidays, emotional support
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Emotions and complexities to the negotiation
of the gift r/ship within family (quote)
Some YP had no support given parents
emotional/geographical distance or parental
distress (eco marginality/divorce) (quote)
Exacerbated for those in hot housing markets
Even where family support is available, may not
be enough in overheated markets (quote)
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“I would imagine it’s a massive burden for
my parents. I spoke to my Dad about it quite
a few times and he stressed he wished he
could help, but it’s just … and I don’t like him
feeling guilty about it … but I think if a parent
can help then they will probably, and parents
do take that burden don’t they?”
(PRS, 32, Merthyr)
16
“I know for a lot of people it is like their parents
can help out, but I don’t think everyone’s
parents can, and I think particularly where
parents have been divorced, often financially
they are not in a position to do that … they are
not necessarily as financially stable because
again they’ve got to start from scratch in the
housing market.”
(Homeowner, 26, Surrey)
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“When I got that money [£50,000] I thought
– this is like four years ago – I thought that
was such a lot of money. I thought that is
amazing, a £200,000 house now becomes
£150,000. But those £200,000 houses are
now one bed, two bed. The market has
increased so much”
(PRS, 34, Surrey)
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Conclusions
– Despite L/T aspirations to own it was perceived
as a ‘fallacy of choice’; want a home!
– Intersections between housing & labour market
vulnerability (+ welfare reform)
– Need to challenge simplicity of ‘generation rent’;
evidence of family support & solidarity,
– Diversity YP’s experiences with family support
critical (also geography, /hold size, age)
– Homeownership may increasingly become
preserve children of homeowners
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Email: [email protected]
Visit the CHR website:
http://ggsrv-cold.st-andrews.ac.uk/chr/
Follow us on Twitter:
@kim_mckee
@StAndrewsCHR
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References
and Analytical Services Divisions (2014) “Housing Event Themes
and Housing and Regeneration Outcomes: supporting evidence”, presentation at
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Clapham, D., Mackie, P., Orford, S., Buckley, K., Thomas, I., Atherton, I. and
McAnulty, U., (2012) Housing options and solutions for young people in 2020.
York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Cole, I; Powell, R; and Sanderson, E. (2015) “Putting the Squeeze on Generation
Rent”, paper presented at Deconstructing Generation Rent, University of Sheffield,
13th February 2015.
Flint, J. and Rowlands, R. (2003) “Commodification, Normalisation and
Intervention: cultural, social and symbolic capital in housing consumption and
governance”, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment 18(3): 213-232.
Howker, E. and Malik, S. (2010) Jilted Generation. Icon Books.
Gurney, C. (1999) “Pride and Prejudice: Discourses of Normalisation in Public and
Private Accounts of Home Ownership”, Housing Studies 14 (2), pp 163-183.
Kemeny, J. (1981) The Myth of Home ownership: public versus private choices in
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Communities
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Choice: http://wealthgap.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/files/2013/02/No-06-Fallacy-ofChoice1.pdf
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Homeownership in Scotland”. Urban Studies vol. 48 (16), pp. 3397-3411.
Molgat, M. (2007) “Do Transitions and Social Structures Matter? How Emerging
Adults Define Themselves as Adults” Journal of Youth Studies 10 (5), pp. 495-516.
Ronald, R. (2008) The Ideology of Homeownership. Basingstoke: Palgrave
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Saunders, P. (1990) A Nation of Homeowners. London: Unwin Hyman.
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Willets,D. (2011) The Pinch. Atlantic Books.
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