“Over the past decade, the number of people renting in England and Wales has more than doubled.” [The Times]
“Unless more affordable homes are built, it seems inevitable that more and more young people will have little choice but the open road.” [BBC Radio 4 – Rental Health, The New Nomads]
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It’s not exactly easy to find anywhere to rent in these parts: Finding somewhere to rent in Devon – Vision Group for Sidmouth
Radio 4 has been looking at where we are with the rental market, as reviewed in the Times:
BBC talk radio reached out to Generation Rent last week: under the banner Rental Health, several programmes explored Britain’s worsening housing crisis. Over the past decade, the number of people renting in England and Wales has more than doubled. Despite that, there is a dwindling supply of landlords. It made for a bleak, often chastening listen. “There’s a smell of damp in the air,” the BBC Radio Leeds presenter Rima Ahmed observed on visiting a basement flat, giving a good sense of the overall olfactory tone… Generation rent: what it’s really like to be young or poor
The series looked at some positive ways out – and delved into the trend of ‘the new nomads’:
As property rents spiral, life on the road is attracting a new generation. Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent meets the van dwellers hitting the highway to save cash and gain their freedom... Fresh ideas are helping the increasing number of van dwellers. In Bristol, brownfield areas are being turned into temporary spaces for vans and caravans. The residents are happy with these cheap and cheerful campsites but demand far outstrips supply. Unless more affordable homes are built it seems inevitable that more and more young people will have little choice but the open road. BBC Radio 4 – Rental Health, The New Nomads
During lockdown, things were not exactly easy: ‘I was sleeping in laybys’: the people who have spent the pandemic living in vans | Caravans and campervans | The Guardian
But since then, Bristol city council has made it a little easier: Community Pact for Vehicle Dwellers and Bristol City Council
And has created specific areas for ‘digital nomads’: Bristol for Digital Nomads
Van dwellers have set up a group to campaign further: Home – Bristol Vehicles For Change and Bristol Vehicles For Change (@BristolVFC) / Twitter
Things are still pretty difficult: Bristol’s van dwellers suffer as cost of living bites – BBC News