Centre for Cities responds to the Rugg review

Date: 23/10/2008

In response to the publication of today's Rugg Review of Private Rented Sector housing, Dermot Finch, Director of the Centre for Cities said,

"Julie Rugg's review says we need to ‘grow the business of letting' homes.  We agree.  We know from our own research that cities - particularly fast-growing cities like Bristol and Cambridge - urgently need more high quality private-rented housing to support their labour markets.    

"At the same time the Government's 3 million new homes target (by 2020) is looking ever more unrealistic.  The new Homes and Communities Agency should review the target when it goes live in December, and any changes should include more homes for rent.  This will help take some pressure off social and affordable housing, and give young people better housing choices, before they're ready to buy.  Most of all, a bigger private-rented sector would boost worker mobility - which will be key as the recession and job losses bite."

For more information, please contact:

Rosamund Taylor, Acting External Affairs Manager, Centre for Cities

r.taylor@centreforcities.org / 020 7803 4316 / 07876 175 426

The Centre for Cities edited a book of essays on The Future of the Private Rented Sector, available at www.centreforcities.org/privaterentedsector.  Chapters were contributed by:

Peter Bill, Editor of Estates Gazette
Catherine Glossop, Analyst at the Centre for Cities
Ricky Taylor, Principal Research Adviser at the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit
Adam Sampson, Chief Executive and Caroline Davey, Deputy Director of Policy and Campaigns at Shelter
Ian Potter, Operations Manager at the association of Residential Letting Agents
Mark Long, Head of Research and Strategy at Invista
Mark Allan, Chief Executive of Unite Group
Liz Peace, Chief Executive at the British Property Federation
Lord Richard Best OBE, Former Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Home Economics: How Housing Shapes City Economies, by Kenneth Gibb, Tony O'Sullivan & Catherine Glossop, stresses the need for cities to build the right homes in the right places and for cities with high housing demand to encourage a bigger and better managed private rental sector.  This publication is available at www.centreforcities.org/homeeconomics