The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is calling for fundamental reforms to the private rented sector (PRS) to open the market to those locked out of home ownership and social housing.
Successive governments have promised to solve the housing crisis by building more houses, but a new JRF report suggests that who owns the 25 million homes available now, and who they are available to, is as important as new construction.
Landlords are likely considering their future in the sector due to planned reforms to the PRS to improve tenants’ rights alongside existing tax changes and obligations on landlords to meet higher energy efficiency standards.
The report says the government should see this as an opportunity to implement policies which see homes change hands from landlords to tenants. This would help budding homeowners previously unable to access the market find affordable, secure homes and give them the chance to build wealth.
Darren Baxter, Senior Policy Advisor at JRF, says:
“The housing market is not working. In recent decades we have seen the rapid growth of the private rented sector alongside the decline in the proportion of households in social housing or owner occupation. Consequently, millions of people are stuck paying unaffordable rents, worried about being evicted by their landlord and have little opportunity to save.
“Right to Buy and the expansion of the private rented sector following the global financial crisis have already shown that rapid shifts in the distribution of homes are possible. Reforming the private rented sector by shifting the distribution of homes within it should be the gateway to further, fundamental reform of the housing market. Reforms of this type would ensure the housing market supports those looking for somewhere to call home over those seeking assets to invest in.”
