Presentation to Housing Studies Association Conference April 2015 What do young people think about their housing futures? Dr John Horton, Centre for Children and Youth, University of Northampton Dr Martin Field, Collaborative Centre for the Built Environment, University of Northampton

What do young people think about their housing futures? Context: young people and housing futures Introduction to research project Preliminary findings Implications for next steps Contents of presentation : HSA conference April 2015

Context: young people and housing futures Substantial research / discussion about the state of the UK housing market Limited in-depth research about opinions, aspirations and understandings of children and young people What familiarities do young people draw from? Are young people aware of the ‘less conventional’ community-led possibilities for housing supply?

Introduction to research project Exploratory online survey focusing on: o Housing experiences o Housing aspirations o Understandings of housing tenures/issues o Perceptions of housing tenures/types Circulated to Geography students in 5 secondary schools : o 260 surveys completed to date Leicestershire & Northamptonshire o 42% male / 58% female o 33% aged 16 / 42% aged 15 / 25% aged 18 o 83% white British / 17% BME o Diverse housing experiences/tenures Plan to continue / extend research: o Widen reach of online survey o Contrast with new baseline information o Repeat of surveys for qualitative comparisons.

Questions posed …… Experience and understanding of housing ‘types’ Understanding of the ‘housing market’ Understanding of ownership and rental tenures What housing do young people want for the future? Ideas about future house-building in the UK Understanding of ‘community-led’ housing Concerns about housing options in 5, 10 and 20 years time?.

Where would young people ‘most like to live’? % Recurring themes ‘My space’ “I don't like being wall-to-wall with other people, I want MY house and MY space = it’s more private and sexy” Status “By owning my own detached house, it indicates I will have the money to afford one… Detached is the most spacious and luxurious of all the housing”

Where do young people ‘definitely not want to live’? % Recurring themes Living with others “Dislike idea of living with others… possibly living amongst individuals with issues or antisocial behaviour problems” Self-sufficiency “Want to be able to look after myself. Hope I never need to live in housing for people in need”

Young people have a strong, consistent, normative sense of who housing types are ‘for’ Owner-occupied housing “For middle-aged people who earn a good living and can now afford to own their own home. What most people aspire to” Renting from Local Authority “For people who are less financially well off, or have to rely on benefits – unemployed, old, pregnant, large family, living off the dole, Labour voter, disabled, low qualifications” Renting from Housing Association “For someone who struggles to earn a good living, earn no/low income and want the security of having someone else to call on with problems or issues” Private sector renting “Mostly for people with steady jobs who just starting out and saving enough for a deposit on their first house”

Do young people think more house-building is needed in the UK? % Recurring themes Homes for first-time buyers “Need some more affordable nice homes so young people can get on property ladder and move out of parental properties” Worry about green space “already many houses within the UK and not enough green space” Worry about population growth “I don't think the country will be able to cope with extra housing, population growth, immigration etc. I just don't think that such a small space can house so many people COMFORTABLY”

Who young people think is responsible for building most new houses in the UK? %

Who young people think develops the ‘best quality’ homes in the UK? % Recurring themes Faith in private developers “Private developers want to make as much profit as possible and draw in as many buyers as possible so it is in their interests to do a good job” Admiration of self-build projects “Self-builders are invested in the project and care about details of the construction” Low opinion of LA/HA housing “No money so always scrimping on expenses with a shitty end-result. Very poor quality houses”

Which housing types have young people ‘no idea about’ / ‘never heard of’ % ‘No idea’ or ‘never heard of’ it ‘Not sure’ Cohousing

After reading a definition, do young people think community-led housing sounds like a good idea? % Recurring themes Difficult to conceive what it might look like “No idea how it would work in practice. Have never seen a an example so can't say” Communities ‘lack expertise’ compared to private sector “Likely to have good ideas but will be inexperienced and unqualified unlike private developers” Could be a good (small-scale) ‘experiment’ “Seems a worthwhile idea to try out on a small scale”

What do young people think about their housing futures? Young people want more information o 67% ‘would like to know more about future housing options’ o 54% would like to learn more about tenures and housing market o 25% would like guidance/support in planning futures / finances Evidence of strongly-held norms and (mis)apprehensions Next steps to juxtapose young people’s housing aspirations and familiarities with more baseline information Implications for next stage of research: HSA conference April 2015

Any Questions?