Not so long ago, if you lived in Britain, and were old enough to have escaped the clutches of your parents, then the odds were that you owned your own home. The proportion of households that were owner occupied increased, in fits and starts, right through the 20th century: from 23% in 1918, to 50% in 1971, to 69% by 2001.
Since then, though, the number’s dropped back, to somewhere shy of 64%. But even this number flatters the situation, because it’s the proportion of households, not individuals. If you’re, say, a 33 year old living back in your childhood bedroom while you attempt to save up for a deposit, you won’t show up in these figures. What we do know is that, between 2001 and 2011, the number who live in rented accommodation throughout the country saw an unprecedented jump, from 6.7 million to 8.3 million.
Now, says Neal Hudson, an analyst for property group Savills, there are no fewer than 19 parliamentary constituencies in which more adults live in private rental accommodation than own their own homes; 14 of these are in London.
Hudson helpfully posted the list on his Twitter account yesterday, so we've made a little map.
As you can see, renters now dominate all of central London and the East End as far as West Ham, as well as Tottenham, Vauxhall and Hammersmith. Further out, owner occupiers still dominate, for the moment – but with house prices heading towards the stratosphere once again, that red zone seems likely only to grow.
Here's Hudson's complete list, with the London constituencies in bold:
- Bethnal Green and Bow
- Cities of London and Westminster
- Poplar and Limehouse
- Bermondsey and Old Southwark
- Vauxhall
- Sheffield Central
- Manchester Central
- Hackney South and Shoreditch
- Westminster North
- Hammersmith
- Liverpool Riverside
- Hackney North and Stoke Newington
- Bristol West
- West Ham
- Holborn and St Pancras
- Islington South and Finsbury
- Tottenham
- Kensington
- Leeds Central
