ContentsAcknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the many experts who have shared their thoughts on
this report through conversations and comments including Kate Barker, Dan Wilson
Craw, Ian Fletcher, John Hills, Toby Lloyd, John Muellbauer, Rhea Newman, Julie Rugg,
James Tatch, Kate Webb and Peter Williams Any errors or omissions are, of course, our
own
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Home improvements
ContentsExecutive summary
After decades of neglect, today housing sits at the top of the political agenda On the
left and on the right, there is a strong sense that today’s young people in particular,
and our country more generally, are being short-changed when it comes to housing
This is an account that has been confrmed by previous work for the Intergenerational
Commission: we know that millennials today are spending more of their income on
housing than previous generations did at the same age, but critically get less for their
money when it comes to security and quality of life
Turning this around so that young people can once again achieve the housing outcomes
we all want is not an easy task In this, the 19th report for the Intergenerational
Commission and the latest in the series of
policy options
papers published in advance of
the Commisison’s fnal report, we consider a range of potential approaches
In the short term, dealing with the intergenerational housing challenge requires reform
of the private rented sector (PRS) where so many young people live today, and in some
cases are likely to reside for the rest of their lives In the medium term, it means taking
action to rebalance housing demand rather than simply stoking it, levelling the playing
feld between old and young rather than pushing up prices further And over the longer
term, it means accepting it will be a long haul to increase supply, and that both the
private and public sector need to build more homes
With many millennials set to rent privately during their key
child rearing years and beyond, de-risking the PRS is crucial
With home ownership often out of reach, and options in the social rented sector highly
constrained, it is no surprise that four-in-ten millennials rent privately at the age of
30 While an acceptable and indeed often preferred tenure when footloose and fancy
free, the limited security the PRS provides in England and Wales makes it far less ft for
purpose as families begin to age With the number of households with children renting
privately tripling in recent years, and up to 16 per cent of millennials set to rent in the
PRS from cradle to grave, it is time for warm words to be converted into serious action
on tenancy reform
The experience of other countries is instructive – indeed, we need look no further afeld
than Scotland to see how things can be done diferently There, as in Germany, the
Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, indeterminate leases are the norm These aim
to balance the needs of tenants to create a stable home with the rights of landlords to
utilise their property Tenants can be asked to leave if they breach basic conditions such
as treating the property well, and in a sensible set of scenarios such as when a landlord
wishes to sell or reoccupy the home, but cannot simply see their tenancy ended at short
notice without good cause
Opposition to the introduction of indeterminate tenancies would likely be intense, but
in our view could be overplayed Fewer than one-in-ten tenancies in England today are
ended at the landlord’s request, with more than 60 per cent of these occurring because
the owner wishes to sell or use the property themselves, exactly the circumstances
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Executive summary
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