Rising rents mean people in the UK are increasingly struggling to move to cities where there are greater opportunities for employment, a study has found.
This is especially true for younger people despite the fact they are more likely to be university graduates, private renters and non-UK born – all factors that used to increase, rather than decrease, the likelihood of someone moving for work.
The study, by the Resolution Foundation, coined this trend as a fall in ‘job-plus-home mobility’ and said the fact that rising housing costs are now determining the behaviour of younger renters is a “real cause for concern”.
It is no secret that young people are struggling to gain financial and employment stability – getting trapped in the rental sector rather than being able to buy a home.
But the research found that millennials and Generation Z aren’t even able to take advantage of the flexibility afforded by renting to move around. In fact, the number of young people moving locations for a new job has halved in 20 years.
Despite the higher wages available if they were to move, the financial incentives are lower, say the researchers. This is because any potential pay gain of a new job (or a job in a big city) is then swallowed up by the moving and living costs.
Rents have risen by almost 90% in the highest-paying 30% of local authorities over the past 20 years, compared to just over 70% among the 30% lowest-paying places.
Once housing costs were deducted from pay cheques, private renters moving from a low-paying area like East Devon to a mid-paying area like Bristol in 1997 would have received an average financial gain of about 16%. Today, the financial gain would be 1%.
Lindsay Judge, lead author on the study, said: “There are real advantages to moving when it comes to trying new roles and developing skills – and housing should not be a barrier that prevents them doing this.”
Of course there are other reasons people choose not to move away from home – preferring to live near friends and family, say – but this study shows even if they might want to make the move, they don’t necessarily have the ability to.