Thousands of renters forced into flatshares
Posted on August 27th, 2011
Soaring rents have forced an extra 100,000 people into shared accommodation over the past year, according to a poll carried out by easyroommate.co.uk.
The flatsharing website said the number of renters now living with other people has increased to 2,851,000 from 2,749,000 a year ago.
If numbers continue to grow at their present rate, the flatsharing population will hit three million by April 2013.
While 82% of respondents to the poll said they aimed to own their own home in the future, the majority cited financial issues as the main obstacle to getting a foot on the housing ladder.
Around 70% of those questioned said they either didn’t earn enough money to pay for a large mortgage or didn’t have a big enough deposit.
Only 27% of renters said they thought they would be in a position to buy a home in the next three years.
Jonathan Moore, director of easyroommate.co.uk, said: “The woeful level of lending to first-time buyers has been a bottleneck for buyer demand, driving thousands of frustrated first-timers into rented accommodation.
“This has driven up rents in the wider rental market – driving down the affordability for many renters. The flatshare market is absorbing the excess demand, providing a cheaper and more flexible alternative and allowing renters to set aside more money each month for house deposits.”
A third of flatsharers said they could not even see themselves renting their own home in the next five years. The rise in the number of tenants unable to rent their own home has pushed the size of the average rental household to 3.2 people, up from 3.1 a year ago.
“It’s not even buying a home that is the most immediate concern for thousands of renters – renting alone is becoming an equally distant goal. For many, the size of the deposit needed – not to mention the sky-high rents is prohibitive,” Mr Moore commented.
“Cost conscious renters are opting to share properties – and split bills – to limit their monthly outgoings. As homeownership remains the ultimate goal for many renters, thousands of renters are looking to save deposits while they flatshare before buying, and avoid renting alone altogether.”
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