Are Oxford’s landlords meeting the needs of families?

A few weeks ago I was asked a fascinating question by a local politician who, after reading the Oxford Property Blog, emailed me and asked – “Are Oxford Landlords meeting the needs of tenant-parents bringing up their families in Oxford?”

What an interesting question, I thought, but I didn’t have an answer for him!

Irrespective of whether you are tenant or a homeowner, to bring up a family, amongst the most important factors are security and stability in the home. A great bellwether of that security and stability in a rented property is whether tenants are constantly being evicted. Many tenancies last just six or 12 months with families apparently at risk of being asked to leave with just two months’ notice, and on occasion with no good reason being provided.

Some “left leaning Politician’s” are saying we need to deal with the terrible insecurity of Britain’s private rental market by mandating longer tenancies of 3 or 5 years instead of the current six to twelve months. However, the numbers seem to be telling a different story. The average length of residence in private rental homes has risen in the last 5 years from 3.7 years to 4 years (a growth of 8.1%).  The proportion of private rented property occupied by tenants with dependent children, has gone from 29.1% in 2003 to 37.4% today.

This data suggests that landlords do not spend their time seeking opportunities to evict a tenant as the average length of tenancy has steadily increased. It also shows a proportional shift in occupation of private rental property by families with children suggesting an effective response to changing demand.

Looking specifically at Oxford, compared to the National figures, of the 17,662 private rental homes in Oxford, 4,008 of these have dependent children in them (22.7%), which is well below the National average (37.4%).

But, when considering Oxford, it is important to take account of its peculiarities:  it is a ‘young’ City with nearly one-third of its population being aged between 18 and 39 years.  It is home to some 32,000 students, many of whom rent their homes from private landlords for all or part of their studies, and the average Oxford property value is some 16 times the local average income.  That’s a greater affordability gap than London (as a whole).  As a consequence, demand for private rental properties is fierce, it comes from a diverse range of people, and it comes from a younger age profile of tenant than is typically the case in comparable Cities.  As a result, it is to be expected that the proportion of private rental properties occupied by tenants with dependent children is lower as a proportion of the whole.  For example most students are either single or have not yet commenced their family. 

So, if as it seems, landlords are responding to tenants’ needs when it comes to the length of tenancy (average length of tenancies are increasing), and responding to demand from tenants with families (the proportion of tenants with dependant children is increasing) -  I find it strange that some politicians are calling for fixed term 3 and 5 year tenancies. More heavy-handed regulation may encourage some landlords to stop renting their property out in the first place, cutting-off the supply of much needed rental property, meaning tenants will suffer financially as rents go up due to a greater imbalance of supply and demand.

In Oxford the only long-term solution to the affordability of property is to build new houses which I discussed last week.  Until that happens the City is in need to a greater supply of good quality rental property provided by high quality landlords who can afford to invest. 

Heavy-handed legislation that further discourages landlords could break the fragile but functional market that exists in the City.