Average UK rents rise by 8.7% in the year to May

House prices have increased in nominal terms by 1.1% in the year to April, to £281,000. However, for most younger people, this is irrelevant. Half the UK population are under 40, and for most of these, the important question is not ‘how fast are house prices increasing?’ The question is ‘can I afford to live in a decent home?’ And the answer for most is related more to regulation than to house prices.

Regulations intended to help tenants have adverse consequences. The planned end to ‘no fault’ evictions was intended to protect the right of tenants. In fact this is one of the causes of rising evictions. Landlords, who fear they won’t be able to access their property, are evicting tenants while they can, meaning the number of under-used and empty homes is growing well over the 1 million recorded by the census in 2021, and tenants are losing their homes.

Nothing is replacing this supply, because building new homes is slow, and potential investors are nervous about the future of housing policy under the next government.

We have to hope that the next government can allay these fears and provide a stable environment for responsible, professional investors to provide safe, secure homes for renters, before the supply of decent, safe homes for the younger generations dries up.