Percentage game.
The only housing available to many young professionals costs a prohibitive percentage of their income.
This finding, published by The Observer (01/05/16), is a challenge to economic policy as well as the quality of life of those affected.
The shortage of affordable accommodation is felt in all parts of the country. Living and working in the prosperous South-east is no protection.
Most clients of Citizens Advice Reigate & Banstead with housing problems aren’t ‘young professionals’.
But the impact on those with lower-paid or less secure work is even greater.
The government says it was elected on a manifesto promise to stop a decline in home ownership. It points to research showing ownership is the tenure favoured by 80% of us.
Fair enough. But in the short- and medium-term the case for working in parallel towards a more viable rented sector looks unanswerable.
Citizens Advice national campaign – Settled and Safe: A Renter’s Right