Attitudes toward renting Britain have changed enormously over the last 20 years. Once seen as the poor relation of homeownership, more people today are actively choosing to rent their homes, and for longer periods of time. Ideologies have changed, and so have the kind of things tenants today expect and demand from their accommodation. As a landlord, how can you ensure that your property investment can provide all the things now needed to needed for prolonged periods of occupancy?

1. THE CHANGING UK TENANT:
THE LANDLORD’S GUIDE TO A NEW GENERATION OF TENANT

2. THE PEOPLE THAT RENT IN BRITAIN
TODAY HAVE CHANGED. THEY’VE
MOVED ON. AND THE ACCOMMODATION
PRODUCTS AVAILABLE TO THEM NEED
TO CATCH UP QUICKLY.
Those living in your rental property in Britain in 2016 belong to Generation Y – and they share few
of the values your previous tenants once held in such high regard.
So how have the people living in the PRS changed in recent years? What aspects of their lives have
shifted the goalposts when it comes to residential real estate investment?
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The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant

3. TENANTS ARE
GETTING MARRIED
LATER
Generation Y isn’t in a hurry to tie the knot:
26% of Generation Y is married
Put into context, 36% of Generation X were
married at the age Y’s are now at
Just one in seven woman (14%) are younger than 25 on
their wedding day – a huge shift from the 80% of under
25s that tied the knot between 1965 and 1970
The Marriage Foundation think tank suggests that few-
er than half of British 20-year-olds will ever get married
Adults in the Generation Y-dense 25 to 44 group are six
times more likely to live alone than they were in 1973
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The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant

4. TENANTS
ARE HAVING KIDS
LATER
Like marriage, the rise in age of first-time parents has followed
a similar steady path of growth over the last four decades:
The average age of new mothers in England and Wales hit
30 years old in 2013 for the first time ever
Average age of new mothers was 28.2 years old in 1995
UK mothers are now the oldest in the world -
British Pregnancy Advisory Service
The growing trend of women delaying motherhood until
their late thirties or early forties is, we believe, an inevitable
one, because of the increasing equality in the social,
professional, financial and corporate environment that we
live in. The average age of fatherhood has also been rising.
Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists (RCOG) spokesman
“
”
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The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant

5. 4
The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant
TENANTS’
BUYING HABITS HAVE
CHANGED
With marriage and kids previously came
the house, the family car and other purchases to signify
prosperity and success.
Generation Y does not think like this.
The goods their parents purchased with their disposable income
are seen as less of an urgent buy for today’s tenants:
30% of young people don’t intend to purchase a car in the near future
Once seen as a major purchase for the family home, just 30% of
Generation Y see the latest TV as an important product, but not a big
priority purchase, while 20% don’t intend to buy one in the near future
57% of Generation Y actually use their devices to compare prices
online whilst they’re in a store
34% of 18 to 35-year-olds consult social media before making
purchases, compared with just 16% of those aged 36+

6. 5
The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant
THE DECLINE
OF THE ONE-JOB
WORKER
Their parents were lifers; to them the notion of spending
their entire career with one employer was the status quo.
But for Generation Y, this is almost an unfathomable ideology:
Employees now change roles every five years
Those entering the UK workforce can now expect to have an average of
nine jobs across a 48-year working life
Just 1.5% of workers will hold the same job for their entire career
The norm these days is to change one’s job every few
years, while to stay for 30 years is considered a form of
institutionalism.
Dr Harry Freedman – Guardian
“
”

7. THE RISE OF THE
CAREER-CHANGER
It’s not just job roles that your tenants now look to swap
with a rising degree of regularity, either:
Over half of Britain’s workforce (54%) wishes it could
switch careers
The greatest share of these people (72%) are young
workers aged 25-34
Generation Y also accounts for the largest proportion of the 57%
of workers that have considered starting their own business
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The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant

8. Home may have been where the heart is for your previous
tenants, but for Generation Y home is defined by the locality
of career opportunities:
77% of UK workers are willing to consider relocation to a new city for work
85 million residents moved from one local authority in England and
Wales to another between July 2013 and June 2014
The largest proportion of these moves were done by people aged 19-30
And it’s not just domestic relocation that Generation Y is happy to
consider. Increased connectivity is bringing global businesses closer
together and driving the international job opportunities available to
British workers that were once few and far between.
Just under half of UK employees said they’d consider a move abroad
37% declared that they’d willingly move overseas permanently
67% agreed the prospect of a better climate is appealing
57% agreed a better quality of life could be attained
51% agreed their work-life balance could be improved
THE READINESS TO
RELOCATE
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The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant

9. THE FALL OF
HOMEOWNERSHIP
THE RISE OF RENTING
Homeownership was once a life goal to aspire to for millions of people.
68% of Britons owned their homes by 1991. Prevailing status quo
and the proliferation of the Generation X ideology led to a peak
of 73% homeownership in 2003.
But this growth has halted in recent years:
In 2013/14 homeownership levels fell to their lowest for 29 years (63%)
Generation Y were among the highest proportion that started to buy fewer homes
36% of 25 to 34-year-olds owned their home in 2013/14, compared with
59% just 10 years previous
Instead renting has grown significantly over the last 20 years,
and as the rate of young people owning property has fallen,
the number that are renting has boomed:
Half of 25 to 34-year-olds rented privately in 2013/14, more than
double the rate that did so in 2003/04
An additional 1.8 million households will be renting privately by 2025
Over 50% of 20 to 39-year-olds in the UK will be renting in 10 years’ time
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The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant

10. 9
The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant
REASONS FOR
EVOLVING LIFESTYLES
HIGH COSTS
The average UK wedding now costs £20,983
It costs £229,251 to raise a child to 21 years in Britain today
Average property prices rocketed by 96% between 2001 and 2011, naturally
increasing the deposit required to acquire a mortgage
GREATER CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Young men and women in the UK are more career-focused than ever
Having lived through the global recession, Generation Y seeks the security
of adding more roles to their CVs.
PROLIFERATION OF TECHNOLOGY
Generation Y’s access to technology has changed the way they buy products,
meaning that they will now do more research before coming to a decision
Greater connectivity with colleagues in offices around the world has
naturally impacted on generational attitudes towards relocation;
while it was viewed as a huge consideration for older workers,
it’s less so for those entering the job market today

11. Their parents’ life plan involved settling down, having kids and
buying a home
But Generation Y are now doing all of these things much later in life
They value career progression, shared experiences and the
freedom to travel
Generation X saw renting as ‘dead money’, nothing more than a
stop-gap en-route to homeownership
Generation Y rents because it enables them to remain transient and
live in dense urban environments with friends and neighbours with
common interests and values
WHY GENERATION Y
DOES NOT EQUATE
SUCCESS WITH
HOMEOWNERSHIP –
AND WHY RENTING
FITS BEST WITH THEIR
LIFESTYLES
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The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant

12. PROPERTY INVESTOR SUMMARY:
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR
YOUR INVESTMENT?
Renting in Britain is on the rise. And while there are
still tenants that would rather they’d be owning than
renting, the emergence of Generation Y has signalled
the need for a rental revolution.
Flexibility is a necessity, not a compromise. Renting is
the accommodation that fits best with Generation Y’s
professional goals.
If you bought an investment property 10 or 20 years
ago, can you be sure that it now meets the needs of the
modern tenant; the one that doesn’t view renting as a
short-term solution?
They may be in one place for shorter amounts of time,
but Generation Y wants more than just a roof above
their heads; they require a level of comfort and sense
of ownership that will make them feel settled in their
home life while they work on their careers
If the average worker changes jobs every five years,
three years is arguably the required amount of time people
feel they need in order to get as much as they possibly can
from a single role before their minds begin to consider
future endeavours
With more people working from home, starting businesses
from home and fully immersing themselves in the ‘work
anywhere’ culture of modern business, it is crucial that
your property provides reliable technology.
Generation Y wants to live in communities made up of
other young people.
They want a home that’s fully managed, enabling them to
concentrate on the careers and shared experiences that
today’s tenant now values the most
For investment longevity, investors need to future
proof their portfolios with these new features sooner
rather than later.
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The Changing UK Tenant: The landlord’s guide to a new generation of tenant
READ MORE
The Changing UK Tenant: An introduction
http://www.selectproperty.com/2016/03/the-changing-uk-tenant-an-introduction/
The Changing UK Tenant: Evolving lifestyles
http://www.selectproperty.com/2016/03/the-changing-uk-tenant-evolving-lifestyles/
The Changing UK Tenant:
Britain’s upwardly mobile workforce
http://www.selectproperty.com/2016/03/the-changing-uk-tenant-britains-upwardly-mobile-
workforce/
The Changing UK Tenant: Homeownership vs Renting
http://www.selectproperty.com/2016/03/the-changing-uk-tenant-homeownership-vs-
renting/