Where are the policies for renters? First Past the Post keeps the focus on homeowners

With the current cost-of-living crisis and soaring interest rates, mortgages and mortgage holders are all anybody can talk about, including our political parties. The Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems are talking people’s ears off about their strategies to help mortgage holders with their increased costs. But it seems as though there’s collective amnesia when it comes to renters, as John Elledge put it “if you don’t own a property, you don’t quite count”!

So why are renters and soaring rents, which on average amount to 30.9% of monthly income for private renters, getting ignored? Could it be to do with our electoral system?

Using the 2021 census data (2011 for Scotland), we looked at property tenure in the 30 most safe seats and the 26 seats which were won by majorities of <2%. In the 30 most safe seats, there are 13 constituencies where there are more renters (both private and social) than owners (both with mortgage and own outright), this equates to only 983 more renters than owners across the 30 seats. Almost half of these constituencies (6) are in London where homeownership is the lowest across all regions in England and Wales (46.8 per cent).

In contrast, in the seats with the smallest majorities there are 325,000 more property owners than renters. It makes sense then that parties are touting policies such as lengthening mortgage periods (Labour), bringing in funds for grants if your mortgage has increase by more than 10% (Liberal Democrats) and offering people on fixed-term rate the opportunity to lock in new deals up to six months ahead (Conservatives). They need to appeal to current mortgage holders and ensure owners that current house prices will not decrease, in order to win voter support in key marginal areas.

The is only 1 constituency in the 26 smallest majorities where renting tenure is larger than owning, Kensington, coincidentally the only central London constituency in the list of 26.

First Past the Post hands a small group of voters disproportionate power

If we want our politicians to listen to all voters during a cost-of-living crisis, we need them to focus beyond the ‘target seats’ of the 2019 election. But First Past the Post keeps politicians focused on what they can say to win over voters in seats that might change hands.

When all voters are represented fairly in parliament through proportional representation, politicians can appeal to any group of voters to try and win their support. Safe-seats and therefore marginal seats, and the demographic make-up of those within those seats (in this case homeowners), are not the only ones which parties aim their policies towards.

Proportional representation would ensure that all votes and voters matter, including renters, therefore parties would have to create robust policies which help homeowners and renters alike during the cost-of-living crisis.

Do you want every vote to count?