It is laudable that the property ombudsman has ruled that blanket bans on letting properties to families with children discriminate against women and are against the sector’s code of practice (English letting agents who ban children breach equality rules, says ombudsman, 21 March). While libertarian-minded Tories may object that this is an infringement on the free market, conservatives ought to be more concerned with protecting the family than the markets.
Family formation has been seriously and negatively affected by the state of the housing market; 40% of women at the average age to have a first baby are now forced to rent – this was less than 15% in 1996 – and the fertility rate in the UK has fallen by a quarter in the last 10 years, all while record proportions of income are spent on rent or mortgages, squeezing out what is left for childcare.
Unless we make it easier for people to start families, this conservative vision of the good life may become an unobtainable luxury.
Bartek Staniszewski
Researcher, Bright Blue
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