Older private renters prefer longer tenancies, while young people tend towards shorter

TDS Charitable Foundation’s latest Voice of the Tenant survey found that preferences regarding tenancy length vary across different age demographics.

Older tenants are more likely to see their rental property as a long-term home, according to the survey. Those aged 65 and over report a higher inclination to want to remain in their rented property for five years or longer, with 19% expressing this preference, compared with 11% of all private tenants. In addition, a majority of 55% of older individuals indicated that they have no current plans to move.

Younger people, however, are more likely to have moved in the last 12 months. This could be for education, job opportunities, or personal reasons, with private renting offering flexibility to adapt to changing circumstance. For some young people, renting is viewed as a ‘transitory tenure’ or ‘stepping stone’ on the way to achieving the goal of home ownership. 78% of younger renters said they would like to eventually buy their own home, compared to just 27% of those over 65.

Finally, while young people currently constitute a significant proportion of private renters, the Office for National Statistics predicts that a growing number of older people will be renting privately in future. This is indicated by the fact that people in their mid-30s to mid-40s are now three times more likely to rent than 20 years ago.