Locked out: Intergenerational unfairness in the housing market

This June 2024 report analyses local authority areas (LAs) by age and finds that the housing crisis is greatest in those areas where more young people live.

The report calls on political candidates in the General Election to pledge to deliver new housing for their younger constituents. Policy recommendations include:

Fund and roll out Housing First nationally to give vulnerable people homes first
Build more homes across all tenures, particularly in the most unaffordable areas of the country
Build 90,000 new social rent homes per year shared by LAs and HAs
Reform Right to Buy so that homes only can be privately purchased after 15 years of residing in the property and cannot be purchased at a discount
Disincentivise under-occupation by replacing Council Tax with a proportional and progressive property taxation system
Support building more homes suitable for downsizers
Align capital gains tax rates on gains from second homes and properties withthe combined rates of Income Tax and NICs paid on income from work
Allow for housing development on Green Belt areas which are low in biodiversity and are close to transport links
Restrict access to Buy-to-Let mortgages to reduce financialisation of the housing market
Improve security of tenure for all renters in the private sector
In the short term, ensure that Local Housing Allowances reflect rising rental costs, but begin a reform to focus housing subsidies on supply side policies to construct new social homes instead of subsiding private rents
Review national housing strategy to make sure that all tenures are supported and that a focus on increasing homeownership does not lead to more financialisation and house price inflation

Locked out: Intergenerational unfairness in the housing market

Kindly supported by the Land, Planning and Development Federation (LPDF),