Young people are fed up with the housing status quo

It looks like this can be explained largely by young people. Turnout among people aged under 35 increased to a record high – one poll puts it at 56%, others say 72%. And they tended to vote Labour.

It seems reasonable to infer that young people in particular are pretty fed up of the status quo. And not without reason: they get a pretty raw deal in a lot of ways.

There’s a lower minimum wage for under-25s. Students now pay up to £9,000 a year for university tuition.

Perhaps where intergenerational fairness bites hardest is housing.

Many older people who bought homes even as late as the 1990s have seen their values increase by 600% due to the scarcity of housing. Meanwhile, homeownership among younger people has fallen sharply, as house prices inflate and extortionate private rents prevent many from saving for a deposit.

“Policy has tended to benefit existing homeowners at the expense of younger people.”

There is no doubting that policy has tended to benefit existing homeowners at the expense of younger people.

Aspiring first-time buyers pay £10,000 in stamp duty for an average first home in London, whereas existing homeowners pay no tax on the additional housing wealth they’ve accrued.

The planning system politicises every new development, giving a voice to local people afraid the values of their homes will fall, but no voice to the people who would benefit from living in the new development.

An increase in voter turnout among young people should predicate – both morally and pragmatically – a shift towards redressing some of this imbalance. To this end, in 2015 Family Mosaic launched the Be Heard campaign ahead of that year’s general election.

We wanted to empower our younger residents to vote.

By arranging visits to parliament, appointing tenant campaign ambassadors, and using digital and print marketing, we managed 106 new voter registrations that we could count, and probably a lot more that we couldn’t. It’s great to see that the increased turnout we wanted then has happened nationally now.

“We cannot afford to pit generations against one another.”

However, intergenerational (un)fairness notwithstanding, we cannot afford to pit generations against one another.

What’s often missed in these debates is that the solutions for younger people can also be the solutions for older people. Downsizing needs to be made easier and more worthwhile in every tenure, whether by axing stamp duty for under-occupying homeowners, or prioritising downsizers for new social rented voids.

This will benefit the older residents and the younger ones who will move into their homes.

Building more homes of every tenure will ultimately benefit everyone too. More affordable housing will help more of the poorest out of the expensive private rented sector. More build-to-rent market housing will provide a better service to tenants than buy-to-let landlords. More housing for private sale will make homes more affordable for all.

This election has put the concerns of young people front and centre. As housing associations we need to take a holistic look at how housing needs and aspirations develop over the life cycle, so that we can develop our offer and better meet the diverse needs of our tenants.

Reuben Young, research analyst, Family Mosaic