1. Housing Studies Association conference paper Assessing the growth of the private rented sector: choice versus constraints Paul Sissons and Donald Houston 16 th April 2014

2. Outline Aims and research questions The scale of growth in the PRS Perspectives on PRS growth Tenure transitions A changing PRS? Tenant satisfaction in the PRS Next steps

3. Research questions Significant growth of the PRS raises a number of questions about the drivers of growth, experiences of the tenure and policy for the sector. Our focus includes: How have the characteristics of tenants in the sector changed? How have tenants’ experiences of the sector changed? Does the growth of the sector appear to be driven by choice or constraint?

4. A growing private rented sector Source: Office for National Statistics reporting of Labour Force Survey 1980-2008; English Housing Survey 2008-9 onwards

5. Characteristics of the PRS PRS plays a number of different roles: Relatively affordable Immediate access Rent/partial rent covered by state benefit for tenants on low income Facilitates spatial mobility People: Students; Mobile workers; Aspiring homeowners; Older people Places: Cities; Remoter rural districts

6. Perspectives on PRS growth in 1990s 1991-2001 PRS growth in… Districts: Cities; Mining & Manufacturing Regions: Northwest; West Midlands; Wales Economic position: Permanently sick; Students Household types: Lone parents; Multifamily households Cities, south and east: Substituting for homeownership Mobile workers and students Less prosperous districts Substituting for social renting Economically inactive

7. The geography of the PRS: I

8. The geography of the PRS: II

9. Flows out of the PRS by destination: 1991-2008 (Source: Tenure moves - three-year rolling average from BHPS. House prices - ONS reporting of Regulated Mortgage Survey. Adjusted using RPI)

10. Characteristics of PRS growth: 1991-2008

11. Characteristics of PRS – age: 1991-2008

12. Characteristics of PRS – household type: 1991-2008

13. Characteristics of PRS – finances: 1991-2008

14. Characteristics of PRS – satisfaction: 1991-2008

15. Emerging Findings and Conclusions Rapid growth in the PRS – now larger than the social rented sector Flows from PRS- SRS decline consistently since the early 1990s Flows to owner-occupation decline from circa 2000 onwards Characteristics of growth in the PRS from 2001-2008 appears less distinct than that observed in the 1990s. The profile is less disadvantaged and most of the growth is among those in employment But tenants are on average getting older Some evidence suggests dilution of dominant tenure role in facilitating labour mobility Satisfaction rising; financial stress falling; move aspiration falling Change from short to longer-term tenure?

16. Next steps – exploring choice/constraint Extension to post-recession (Understanding Society) Comparison of short versus long-term renters Examine the role of geography/area type post-2001 Modelling of tenure choice: How are inherent tenure preferences changing over time? Does the PRS comprise two (or more) segments within it?

17. Thank you

18. References Ferrari, E. (2014) The Social Value of Housing in Straitened Times: the View from England. Housing Studies, in press. Houston, D. and Sissons, P. (2011) The Changing Geography of Privately Rented Housing in England and Wales. Urban Studies, 49(4), p.795-819. Hulse, K., Jones, C. and Pawson, H. (2010) Tenurial ‘competition’, tenure dynamics and the private rented sector: an international reappraisal. Journal of European Real Estate Research, 3(2), p.138-156. Kemp, P.A. (2011) Low-income tenants in the Private Rental Housing Market. Housing Studies, 26(7-8), p.1019-1034.