With a rising number of renting families, the stereotype of the lone renter is becoming outdated.

Renting for everyone

As house prices rise, more people are choosing renting as an option. In the past, renting large homes was something that our European cousins did. But even with Brexit on the horizon, it seems we’re still influenced by what happens in places like France and Germany.

New figures from HomeLet show the largest household type for renters in this country is ‘couple, with no children’ (34%) followed by ‘couple, with children’ (22.2%). Single person household only accounted for 18.7% of all rentals. Overall - including lone parents – nearly a third (30%) of households that rent privately, have children.

In 1994/95, just 16% of private renting households were couples with dependent children, according to the English Housing Survey. By 2014/15, this had increased to 23%.

And by 2020, PwC predicts that around 60% of people will be renting, while our Urban Renters report says 24% of future households will be families.

Why are more families renting?

While 23.9% of couples with kids enjoy the ‘flexibility’ of renting, the Urban Renters report shows they also like that they can ‘live somewhere they can’t afford to buy’ – with 16.2% putting this as their chief motivation, compared to 11.9% overall.

Households with children put ‘rental costs’ as a top priority (65.2%) when choosing a property, but also list availability of ‘local schools’ (35.6%). Those without children focus on ‘distance to work’ to a greater degree (40.2%).

Many families are enjoying renting for the time being, but are still hoping to buy in the future - 66.4% compared to just 55.7% of lone renters.

The Urban Renters survey also found that the majority of tenants are looking for longer-term rents with over two thirds (68%) wanting to rent for more than a year and 1 in 5 looking for more than 3 years.

Lots of people moving out of places like London choose renting. Some do it to test out an area – try before they buy – while others decide they don’t actually want to sell their London property and so will rent it out. They realise the capital growth on a property in London is more than in the other regions, so will hold onto that home for as long as they can.

What are families looking for?

One of the big attractions for couples without kids is ‘flexibility’, with 27.9% putting it as their favourite thing about renting. But there is also a relatively high level of love for the ‘lack of financial responsibility’ in this group, at 14.7% compared to 13.9% overall.

As part of the Urban Renters report, we asked respondents what they want from a purpose-built property - more than half (55%) want two-bed properties and plan on living with at least one other person.

The report found that multi-occupancy homes - whether couples or a family - are the most popular types of household when renters are considering their next property. Only 15% are looking for single rental units, with 43% looking to move in as a couple, and 24% as a family.

And landlords are responding to the rise in family renters - 56% of tenancy agreements now allow pets.

New term, new home

Strutt and Parker regularly has an influx of families looking to rent at specific times of the year, with May to July the family house season. Many people coming from abroad will rent, snapping up a family home now to be settled in and ready for the start of the new school term in September.

In London, you get key areas that are more affected by this around specific schools, such as the American schools in St John’s Wood and Cobham.

The Urban Renters report discovered a group of family-based renters as one of the growing demographics.

So-called ‘Catchment Chasers’ choose to rent as a way to give their children access to the best schools. In many UK cities there is a bit of an education/postcode issue. If you’re not living in the right area, you might miss out on a spot in your favoured school.

Instead of buying, many of these families choose to rent in the catchment area of their choice. This also means they can move homes as their children progresses through education. The survey found that 25% would rent a property so their kids can get into the ‘good’ school.

Various local authorities are cracking down on this and making the rules tighter, looking at how long people have lived in the area, etc.

Housebuilding reflecting changing trends

Housebuilders are now starting to cotton on to the new trends in renting.

The number of new flats being built has consistently fallen over the past decade, while large detached and semi-detached homes have increased in number.

In 2008, around half of all new homes registered were flats. This dropped to 31% in 2015. Meanwhile, detached homes have risen from just under 15% to 27%.