Having children delayed by lack of affordable housing

Published on 25/08/2012 00:00

A LACK of affordable housing is making people put off having children, according to new research from housing charity Shelter.

One in four 18-30-year-olds say the difficulty in finding a secure and affordable home has led them to delay having children.

One in five childless 31-44-year-olds – equivalent to 1.4 million people – say they have put off having children because of the housing crisis.

Gordon MacRae, head of communications and policy at Shelter Scotland, said: “The lack of secure and affordable housing in Scotland is having an impact at every level of society.

“Sadly, an increasing number of people are finding that despite working hard and saving hard, they’re still priced out of a secure and affordable home, trapped in private rented housing where landlords can evict them with little notice or raise the rent at any time.

“We know that many simply don’t think this is a stable environment to raise a family.

“The Scottish Government has a responsibility to act now to ensure that today’s young people and the generation after them are not denied something as basic as the right to a family life with a safe, affordable and secure home to raise their children in.”

There are currently 272,653 families and individuals in the private rented sector. By 2020, one in five UK households is expected to rent privately.