Recently I had a go at The Great British Class Calculator. I conscientiously answered questions about salary, accommodation, social relationships and activities, and my responses placed me in the ‘Emergent Service Class’ – the second lowest ranking.
However, the researcher in me decided to try a second time - I repeated all my responses except the one about property. Rather than ticking the ‘rent’ box, I ticked ‘own’. In my mind, I chose a reasonably-sized mortgage – one that I could afford to pay - and was instantly catapulted into the second highest ranking, ‘Established Middle Class’.
It’s not that I'm clamouring to join the ranks of the middle classes, but this illustration of my perceived social ranking is just one striking way in which being a private renter limits, compromises and defines my life. The rest of this post is devoted to a few more of them.
When people learn that I rent privately rather than owning a home, there are a few typical responses. Some make me feel as though I am 'second-class' - transient and probably a bit undesirable. They inexplicably equate renting with a lack of responsibility. Others assume my status is temporary and I just haven’t got around to buying anything yet. Friends and acquaintances remind me that I really must get on the property ladder at some point, assuming buying is something I can even consider and talking to me as though I'm insisting on playing the field like some confirmed bachelorette.
I understand their concerns. They - like me- know that in many ways the life of the mortgage-holder allows for much more independence and security than that of the renter. As long as the home-owner can pay each month, the property is theirs. Not so for the private renter. Obviously I need to pay, but other issues beyond my control can affect my tenure: the landlord’s whim; their finances; their age; what the letting agent thinks, to name a few. Plus, the home-owner has a property which is truly theirs and allows the addition of simple homely touches - things like painting the walls, hanging pictures, letting their children share their lives with a pet or allowing them to record their height and age on the bedroom door frame.
And once we hit the subject of children, the limitations and compromises I mentioned earlier become much more challenging. Renting works well for students or those who want a temporary solution to their accommodation needs, but the kind of stability required for a young family is difficult to find. Some tenancies do not allow children; other properties are clearly not suitable for them. Problems with properties tolerable as a single grown-up are unacceptable as a parent.
Issues with my property that depress and embarrass me, I put up with because to move my children based on superficialities or inconvenience would be selfish. However, when things go wrong and a new property is required, the practical and emotional impact can be enormous and repeated. Research suggests that in 2012-13, families who rented privately were 9 times more likely to have moved than home-owners. Whilst moving is stressful for everyone, those in private rented accommodation seem to suffer it rather more frequently.
In addition, families are increasingly being forced into moves with their young children because some landlords and agents are putting up rents to an unmanageable level after an initial 6 month contract or other fixed-term period. As the housing charity Shelter has highlighted, large numbers are being evicted as a result of asking their landlords to make necessary repairs to their properties.
Moving home with children of school age is problematic on a number of levels. For my children it was awful. They were uprooted from the safety and security of the school and friends they had known for 5 years. There were tears and anxieties and a lot of genuine sadness. On a practical level, placing three children at the same primary school was impossible. We are currently managing drop offs and pick ups at two different schools without a car and it's not easy.
Local Education Authority procedures for helping place children in a new area are frustrating. I couldn't have access to a list of schools with available places and I couldn't apply for school places without a firm new address in the area. It was the property finding equivalent of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Added to this mix was the fact that my eldest is moving on to secondary school in September and places had already been allocated, so we had to leave that decision to fate.
It was a stressful time, but it could have been much worse. I might have had each child in a different school. I might have been managing this without a partner to share the load. I might be one if the many who are finding themselves needing to go through this sorry process time and time again, aware of the terrible toll it takes on the confidence, security and education of their children and finding themselves powerless to avoid it.
There are lots of issues that need to be addressed in the UK private renting sector: lack of security for families; insufficiently regulated rents; a demand which far outstrips supply; inadequate procedures for dealing with ‘bad’ landlords, and last but not least, an overarching social belief that having a mortgage is inherently ‘better’ than renting a property.
Families in privately rented accommodation need security of tenure to encourage them to become full members of the community and to allow their children continuity in terms of education and relationships. At the very least this should be reflected in longer tenancy periods, the regulation of private rents and and maintenance of registers of 'rogue' landlords as Shelter’s campaign recommends. Ultimately, we can’t get away from the fact that our country really needs more houses, and a lifting of the cap on local council building would allow for this.
The private rental sector needs to be fair and less precarious for all, but particularly for young families. Politicians should stand up for the 9 million renters, acknowledge their concerns and fully commit to improving the situation for them.