Housing crisis “driving young and old apart”

Britain’s housing crisis is “driving a geographical wedge” between the old and young, according to new report.

According to the Intergeneration Foundation (IF), young families are being “ghettoised” in inner city areas by the housing crisis, while the older homeowners become isolated in the suburbs in England and Wales, a think tank says.

The foundation, which aims to protect the rights of younger generations in policy-making, used small-area population estimates from the last three Census years – 1991, 2001, 2011 – plus data from 2014, to investigate how age-segregation has changed over time.

Data from the Office for National Statistics on rural-urban classification from 2011 was also considered.

The rise in “age segregation” has seen under 30s move to regenerated city centres, while the middle-aged dominated coastal areas. According to the report, the lack of affordable housing has separated generations, weakening the bonds between the age groups.

According to Angus Hanton, IF’s co-founder, only 5% of people living in the same neighbourhood as someone under 18 are over 65, compared to 15% in 1991.

Young people are attracted to the city for job prospects and a more bustling nightlife, and the older generation are more likely to live in the quieter suburbs, further away from cities.

Nigel Wilson, Chief Executive of Legal & General, which supported the research, said: “We have created an intergenerationally unfair society. We need to take bold steps to reverse the negative trends of the last 30 years.

“This will involve not only an increase in housing supply of 100,000 a year for all tenures but also a step up in investment in modern infrastructure and modern industries to create the jobs of the future.”

The think tank called for the building of more genuinely affordable homes suitable for the young and for those wishing for a smaller property, more rental homes to be built to encourage large-scale, institutional landlords, older homeowners to be encouraged to subdivide their homes, building on environmentally poor parts of the green belt, and building upwards – increasing density and more shared outside space.

The report, which was developed in partnership with finance firm, Legal and General, warns that the geographical segregation regarding ages may have consequences for the economy, such as higher enemployment and families struggling to look after eachother.

The most severe age segregation hotspots were named as Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield and Southampton.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said: “Building the homes that communities need is an absolute priority for the government and we have delivered nearly 900,000 since the end of 2009.

“We’ve also set out the largest housebuilding programme since the 1970s, doubling the housing budget so we can build a million extra homes.”

 

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