​Tunbridge Wells’ ‘Generation Stuck’ and Their £4.2bn Tied-up Equity

The predicament of the Tunbridge Wells 20 to 30 year olds who rent and their inability to get onto the housing ladder is often discussed in the press. 

There are 4.43m properties in the UK that are still in the private rented sector (compared to 2.13m in 2002). 

This group of people in their 20s and 30’s, who rent from a private landlord, are often called ‘Generation Rent’.

Yet would it surprise you that since 2017, the number of UK households in the private rented sector has reduced by 260,000 whilst the number of homeowners has increased by 1.1m?

In this article I want to talk about another set of people, not ‘Generation Rent’, but ‘Generation Stuck’.

Generation Stuck are our middle-aged and mature homeowners of Tunbridge Wells. They are the generation that could be described as late ‘Baby Boomers’ (born in late 1950s and early 1960s) and the early ‘Gen X’ (born in the mid 1960s to early 1970s).

These 50 to 64 year old people feel stuck in their homes, and therefore I have nicknamed them ‘Generation Stuck’. Their inability to move could be holding back those younger ‘Generation Renters’ 

So, let me look at the numbers involved.

In Tunbridge Wells, there are 3,607 households, whose owners are aged between 50 and 64years old and about to pay their mortgage off on property that is worth £2.056bn.

There are an additional 3,839 mortgage free Tunbridge Wells households, owned by 50 to 64 year olds, worth £2.188bn, meaning ...

Tunbridge Wells ‘Baby Boomers’ and Tunbridge Wells ‘Gen X’ are sitting on £4.245bn worth of property.

According to the Census, 47.8% of homes occupied by 50 to 64year olds have two or more spare bedrooms. 

This is backed up by the annual English Housing Survey that states nationally, 49% of properties occupied by these ‘Generation Stuck’ are ‘under-occupied’.

Under-occupied is categorised as having at least two spare bedrooms. 

Looking at the statistics closer to home:

51.5% of Tunbridge Wells 50 to 64 year olds have two or more spare bedrooms, making it the 143rd highest local authority in the country

(out of 348 local authorities).

The rising number of older homeowners who want to downsize their home are often held back by the lack of suitable housing options for older people and the difficulties of moving. 

Lots of over 50 year old people in the area cannot move home in the way that they would like, due to a lack of suitable housing options and so can find themselves ‘stuck’ in homes which are no longer suitable for them as they age. 

Only 1 in 29 people over the age of 50 move home each year, compared to 1 in 15 for the rest of the population.

Helping mature homeowners (Generation Stuck) to downsize their homes at the right time will also allow younger people (Generation Rent) to find the family homes they need – meaning every generation wins, both young and old. 

However, to ensure downsizing works, we need more choices for these “last-time-buyers”.

That means building more bungalows or more ground floor apartments suitable for the middle to older generation.

One way this could be done is by changing the planning rules to force builders to build these types of properties, whilst the other could be the changing of the stamp duty tax breaks for downsizers.

In this way, older Tunbridge Wells people will be more able to move into homes which suit their specific needs, improve their quality of life whilst meeting their goals in life, all without them becoming detached from their friends and family locally in the area.

These are my thoughts, please let me know yours.