Generation Rent and the (In)ability to ‘Settle Down’ HSA Annual Conference

1. Generation Rent and the (In)ability to ‘Settle Down’ HSA Annual Conference Thursday 7th April 2016 Jennifer Hoolachan, Kim McKee, Tom Moore & Adriana Soaita

2. Outline • Policy context • Theoretical frameworks • Methodology • Key Findings • Conclusions

3. Policy Context (Scotland) • Homeownership: difficult to secure a mortgage without a substantial deposit • Social housing: shrinking sector that has become residualised • Growing PRS • Young people (16-34) constitute a significant proportion of PRS tenants Source: CASD (2014)

4. Theoretical Frameworks • Youth transitions • Leave education, enter employment • Leave parental home for independent living • Get married and start a family • Socially constructed meanings of ‘home’ • Ontological security • Exercise control (autonomy) • Positive self identity

5. Private Renting • Short-assured tenancies (Scotland) • Landlord can end the tenancy at contractual breaks • Contracts typically last for 6-12 months • Rents are unregulated and charged at market rates • Additional issues: • Landlord inspections • Repairs, poor conditions and ‘revenge evictions’ • Unable to decorate/personalise

6. So… • In their transition to adulthood, young people may struggle to gain secure accommodation • This is particularly the case if they rent privately • They may also struggle to enjoy the qualities of ‘home’

7. Methodology • Qualitative investigation • Two studies: • Mind the (Housing) Wealth Gap (Leverhulme) • Housing Generation Rent (Carnegie)

8. Participants • Study 1: • 25 young people aged 18-35 • Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire, Scottish Borders • 12 semi-structured telephone interviews & 4 online focus groups (n=13) • Study 2: • 19 key-actors with professional knowledge • 11 voluntary and private organisations • Plus Aberdeen City, Dundee, Fife, Scottish Borders • 16 semi-structured interviews (telephone or face-to-face

9. Key Finding 1 • ‘Settling down’, tenure insecurity & frustration “I feel particularly frustrated with having been in rented accommodation for so long and having to move on every year – it’s difficult to put down roots and it’s just got really expensive.”

10. Key Finding 2 • Concern about starting a family in PRS “We do want to have a family, we do want to get married, there are not going to be any of those things unless we have a solid house! If we rented, I could be 8 months pregnant and get a Notice to Quit and be exited out, next month! […] And I suppose there is lots of things, can you even make it your own? […] it is somebody else’s home and we are just living there!”

11. Key Finding 3 • Housing unaffordability and precarity “The thing that really gets on my nerves is the renting trap […] With rent being so high and bills and things, you don’t have the opportunity to get out of that. I like to emphasise I hate renting, I think it is money down the drain […] I hate to think of the thousands and thousands that was just thrown into someone else’s pocket! That really aggravates me.”

12. Key Finding 4 • Double disadvantage of housing and income insecurity “How are you supposed to meet anyone and actually form this wonderful [family] life, if you are always moving from place to place? […] you’re expected to up and move all the time and shift from place to place…It is just insane!”

13. Conclusions • Young people want to feel ontologically secure and in control of their home • PRS does not often provide these qualities of home • This leads to frustration and concern about being unable to ‘settle down’ which has implications for a young person’s transition to adulthood

14. But… • Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill • Removes the ‘no fault’ ground for ending tenancies • Introduction of housing tribunal • Issues remain – rent levels, landlord behaviours, inability to decorate.

15. Thank you @StAndrewsCHR @Jen_2603 @kim_mckee @Tom_Moore85