Monday, June 18, 2012
Joseph Rowntree Foundation Report - Housing Crisis
The JRF has published a report warning of an "escalating
housing crisis" which is set to "lock over one million
young people out of home ownership by 2020". The report,
'Housing options and solutions for young people in 2020', finds
that an extra 1.5 million 18 to 30 year-olds will be forced into
private renting in just eight years' time.
What will the housing system be like for young people in
2020?
Download summary
report here
Download full
report here
Recent economic, social and political change has resulted in
greater uncertainty in the housing options of young people in the
UK. The recession has highlighted challenges such as high youth
unemployment and a lack of available credit.
This study aims to inform the development of housing policy and
practice by identifying the key challenges likely to face young
people who will be aged 18-30 in 2020. It explores:
- what shapes the housing experiences of young people;
- the challenges young people will face in the housing market in
2020; and
- policy responses to these likely changes.
CLG Committee Response to the JRF
Report
Clive Betts MP has
commented on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Report on the
housing crisis, stating: "This excellent report echoes
many points made by the CLG Committee in a report on the Financing
of New Housing supply that we published on 7 May. Like JRF, we drew
attention to the chronic housing shortage. Young people clearly
feel the effects of the housing crisis, so we proposed a number of
solutions for raising sufficient finance to see significant
improvements in housing supply in England over the long term,
including action to deliver more social and private rented
homes.
"In particular, we highlighted the potential for
substantially more investment by large institutions and pension
funds but, like JRF, we acknowledged that the private rented sector
will continue to be dominated by smaller landlords. We therefore
called on the Government to bring forward proposals to simplify the
tax regime in ways that will encourage such landlords to invest far
more readily to build new homes.
"We also questioned the Government's flagship Affordable
Rent model, expressing concerns that it could prove unaffordable in
parts of London and may well prove unsustainable beyond 2015. We
saw untapped potential in the historic grant on housing association
balance sheets, and called for clarity on how it could be used to
best effect. We also urged Government to ease centrally imposed
constraints upon local authorities, such as on borrowing, to enable
them to deliver more homes. Taken together, these measures,
along with others we propose, could boost supply, helping to meet
the housing needs of young people in the years ahead."