‘Generation rent’ and the ability to ‘settle down’: economic and geographical variation in young people’s housing transitions

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupThe term ‘Generation Rent’ denotes young people who are increasingly living in the private rented sector for longer periods of their lives because they are unable to access homeownership or social housing. Drawing on qualitative data from two studies with young people and key-actors, this paper considers the phenomenon of ‘Generation Rent’ from the perspective of youth transitions and the concept of ‘home’. These frameworks posit that young people leaving the parental home traverse housing and labour markets until they reach a point of ‘settling down’. However, our data indicate that many young people face difficulties in this ‘settling’ process as they have to contend with insecure housing, unstable employment and welfare cuts which often force them to be flexible and mobile. This leaves many feeling frustrated as they struggle to remain fixed in place in order to ‘settle down’ and benefit from the positive qualities of home. Taking a Scottish focus, this paper further highlights the geographical dimension to these challenges and argues that those living in expensive and/or rural areas may find it particularly difficult to settle down

Social Disparities in Private Renting Amongst Young Families in England and Wales, 2001-2011

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor & Francis via https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2016.1242511In Britain, the proportion of young families living in the private rented sector (PRS) has risen sharply in recent years. There is mounting concern that this trend could be particularly pronounced amongst less advantaged young families, who may be disproportionately channelled into relatively costly, insecure and lower quality accommodation in the PRS by growing difficulties accessing other tenures. In consequence, this paper uses the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study of England and Wales to compare how family structure and socio-economic characteristics shaped rates of private renting amongst young adults heading families in 2001 and 2011. The results show that social disparities generally increased during this period as private renting expanded most rapidly amongst some types of lone parent and amongst young adults heading couple families with a less advantaged class position. Increasing housing inequalities between young people may thus be as much a feature of “Generation Rent” as deepening divides between generations.This work was supported by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Future Research Leaders award [grant number ES/L009498/1]. Additional financial support was provided by the Isaac Newton Trust

All about homelessness

Previous editions entitled Homelessness; what's the problem?Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m00/13240 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLE3. ed.GBUnited Kingdo

South Yorkshire Tackling youth homelessness

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:98/28014 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo