Are Long-Term Rentals For Families A Good Idea?

An article from the Times today discussed research they commissioned from Savills estate agent. The research suggested that first-time buyers will eventually be priced out of the housing market completely, with only wealthy investors and those with rich parents able to buy their own property. Whilst this is an interesting enough conclusion, it was one of the comments that really caught our eye:

From Dawn J:

“I think what is needed is a better deal for the ordinary, decent people who are forced into renting because they cannot afford to buy their own property. If this article is correct, it sounds like that will end being a huge number of people.

At the moment there is council housing which is virtually impossible to get, and is overrun by people from the underbelly making it highly undesirable to decent ordinary families – or there are private rentals where the only kind of tenancy on offer is a short term contract which means you can be kicked out at very short notice.

What most decent people want is a place they can call HOME. Regardless of whether they are buying it on a mortgage or renting it. They want to be able to decorate it to their taste, make a garden, put down roots. For people on a short term tenancy you just can’t do that. This is yet another reason why buying your own place is really the only alternative in this country, regardless of whether you can really afford it or not.

I say there should be affordable housing available on long term rental contracts for those decent hard working families who don’t go around causing trouble but who don’t have enough money to buy a place of their own. I’m not talking about the underclass, ASBO type of families – but poorer families who just want a place of their own where they can feel secure and know that they are not going to be forced to move yet again in a few months time.”

Three-quarters of the Bethemiddleman.com team currently rent privately, and we know that rental property doesn’t always feel like ‘home’. What do you think? Should there be an alternative to both council houses and the private rental sector? A long-term solution where first-time buyers and families can put down roots?