Generation Rent & the Problem of Community

Saturday morning. Brixton, London. 1967. The dull thud of boot on ball is followed by an excited cheer as a group of children celebrate slotting a football between the two jumpers thrown down as makeshift goalposts on their local street. Down the road, a car revs into life, a bonnet slams shut, and a set of jump leads are returned to their owner with an appreciative smile and a promise to return the favour soon. Door knockers are knocked as neighbours pop next door for a chat, lawnmowers hum gently in the background, and further cheers ring out as another goal flies in between the jumpers. In the midst of all this, a nine-year old Steve Edge emerges with his brothers and cousins for a piece of the action.

This isn’t just a picture of Steve’s childhood. It’s a picture of a community in its prime, a community of young families, elderly couples, single parents and newlyweds, a community of labourers, librarians, nurses, accountants, actors, artists and small business owners. While their backgrounds, occupations and incomes may differ greatly, these people have one thing in common: they all live in rented accommodation.

Fifty years on, and renting is experiencing a major resurgence. The influx of PRS (Private Rented Sector) accommodation in the UK has been driven by rising house prices and a lack of social housing, but also by a significant shift in values from one generation to another. Today’s young professionals aren’t putting down roots as quickly as their parents or grandparents did. And this isn’t only because they can’t afford to buy houses or start families. It’s also because they value flexibility: the flexibility to move cities or even countries for jobs and opportunities, the flexibility to return to university or travel without the burden of house maintenance and mortgage payments. It’s this flexibility that makes renting an attractive option.

But this impermanence is proving particularly problematic for inner city communities. The tendency to value flexibility over stability – paired with the fact that rising rents are forcing existing communities apart – results in a situation where it isn’t uncommon for people to change accommodation year by year. This in turn means people aren’t committing, or simply can’t commit, to a given neighbourhood for a sustained period of time. Together with the diminishing amount of social housing, this is leading to the breakdown of communities in many cities across the UK.

What’s more, this trend isn’t set to change any time soon. It’s predicted that by 2025, over 60% of 20 – 40 year olds will be renting. These figures may be shocking. And they’ll certainly be worrying for many aspiring homeowners. But they aren’t anything new. In the post-war period, less than a third of UK households were homeowners, and of those born in 1958, 48% spent at least part of their childhood in social rented housing. But despite the prevalence of renting at this time, communities flourished.

As part of the 1958 cohort, Steve experienced this first hand, growing up in a strong, diverse community of renters in London. Of course, the key difference today is that it’s PRS, not social housing, that occupies the bulk of the rental market. But this doesn’t mean that today’s PRS developers can’t learn from the success of social housing communities like Steve’s, and lead the way in addressing the breakdown of communities in cities across the UK.

As it stands, developers are missing the mark when broaching the subject of community. All too often, hoardings and adverts for newly built PRS developments bear sunny images of beaming models, accompanied by generic marketing messages like ‘a vibrant new community’ or ‘discover your new lifestyle’. Messages such as these are widespread across UK cities, yet beyond selling the apartments and houses, few developers have any intention of nurturing a sense of community.

The trend for developers to fabricate communities through marketing messages and sell lifestyles that they will rarely follow through on is worsening the problem. And audiences are getting wise to it. In order to relate to their customers and spark some wider positive change when it comes to building communities, developers need to shift the focus. Instead of imposing empty lifestyle messages and promises of community, they must consider what a real community of renters looks like, and set the scene for this to grow naturally.

As someone who grew up in a thriving community where renting was the norm, Steve is well placed to address the topic. He understands that communities are based on something shared: a shared place, a shared way of life. The role of the developer or housebuilder isn’t to half-heartedly impose empty ideas of community, but to lay the foundations for communities to grow from the ground up.

It’s about channelling this understanding into today’s market – a market which desperately needs to support and nurture real, healthy communities in the growing number of PRS developments across the UK. As the problem of failing communities escalates, there is a unique opportunity for developers to buck the PRS industry trend, actively foster new and existing communities, and place themselves at the forefront of positive social change in what can be seen as a cold, hard-hearted sector.

Filed in News, Outer Thinking Division by Steve Edge Design. 13 comments

Lee Atkins

March 2nd, 2018 at 12:53 pm

Mitchell match? Or 300? great reels having read the full post, PRS landlords should provide a one acre lake beside every development and let the kids explore, fish, sail make rafts meet kids from other neighbourhoods that come to the pond to play……like my childhood

Nolan Cowzer

March 2nd, 2018 at 12:53 pm

A Mitchell reel. Lovely.

Jeff T

March 2nd, 2018 at 2:32 pm

All good points. PRS developers need to take more responsibility, but central government must legislate to make that happen (and start building social housing again!)

Richard Banbury

March 5th, 2018 at 8:55 am

Milbro Match rod and Mitchell 300 or possibly 410 as it has the torpedo handle ?

I had pretty much the same outfit. Happy days. We had comparatively little but we had freedom. The 70’s was tough economically but there was a great sense of community and people had time for each other. We felt we knew virtually everyone in our town.

Richard Berridge

March 5th, 2018 at 4:36 pm

Similarly, I spent a very happy 1960’s in council housing in Northants. They were halcyon days.

Mike Green

March 5th, 2018 at 4:36 pm

Lovely picture of a Mitchell 300 best reel you could buy and they are still the best.

Audra Lamoon

March 5th, 2018 at 4:37 pm

Missing the velvet orange number Steve!

Susan Freeman

March 5th, 2018 at 4:37 pm

WOW Steve is this you? Dressed for a party even then!

Rob Bould

March 5th, 2018 at 4:37 pm

Really pleased to see we have industry characters like Steve championing one of the largest social challenges of the time. Power to your baton !

Terry Alexander

March 5th, 2018 at 4:38 pm

I was a very keen fisherman when I was young – many happy days on the lake/reservoir and also match fishing on the Lea at Broxbourne; Thames and various Norfolk rivers/streams…! Tell me Steve, how do you find the time these days? 😉

London Home Solutions

March 5th, 2018 at 4:41 pm

Awww so sweet!

Bob Mawson

March 5th, 2018 at 4:44 pm

Mitchell 300a ? Great reel

Terry Alexander

March 6th, 2018 at 9:30 am

personally remember the Mitchell 330 is better! haha

Generation Rent & the Problem of Community

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