Nearly one in six MPs will be representing a seat where a majority of people are renting in 2021 including two thirds of London constituencies, according to a new report.
There are 65 MPs currently in constituencies where the majority of people rent, according to the 2011 census compared to 38 in 2001. Analysis by Generation Rent suggests that the total will go up to 104 by 2021.
They got their numbers by looking at how the proportion in each individual seat changed between 2001 and 2011. They then applied that trend to the 2011 figures to get a figure for 2021.
The report suggests that in London 49 of the capital’s 73 Westminster seats will be majority renter by 2021, with additional seats popping up in some of the major northern cities too.
It was not possible to do forecasts for Scottish seats so the presumption is that the eight seats there will still have a majority of people renting.
Despite continually increasing house prices, the UK is still a nation where the majority are homeowners rather than tenants - a trend which is much the same for all other countries in the EU.
Germany is almost an exception to this rule, with 47.4% of the population being tenants. There has been quite a bit of coverage of Germany’s long-term leasing and there are also rent controls in place there too. The favourability of these policies means that owning your own house is not the be all and end all for many families.
The situation in the UK is quite different as many people want to buy but are forced to rent due to high house prices. With so many MPs representing predominantly tenants there will undoubtedly be increased pressure to introduce renter-friendly policies in the future.
