Generation Rent

GUARDIAN'S TOP BOOK ON THE UK HOUSING CRISIS

'An essential read about a broken housing market.' – Peter Apps, Inside Housing


If paying rent feels like a second tax — and saving for a deposit feels impossible — you’re not imagining it. Across the UK housing market, millions of people are stuck in the rent trap: high rents that can exceed mortgage payments, tiny and poorly maintained flats, insecure tenancies, deposit battles, and the constant stress of being forced to move with little notice.

Generation Rent is Chloe Timperley’s razor-sharp, eye-opening investigation into Britain’s housing crisis and the death of the homeownership dream. It shows how we went from a post-war era of affordable council housing and rising ownership to an economy where homes became financial assets, property investment vehicles, pension pots and “wealth machines” — while a whole generation haemorrhages cash to landlords.

This book tackles the big questions renters, first-time buyers, parents and policymakers keep asking:
Why are house prices so high? Why is renting so expensive? Why can’t a reliable tenant get a mortgage? Who benefits from the current system — banks, developers, buy-to-let investors, letting agents, freeholders — and who is being squeezed out?

Inside you’ll uncover:
• The real mechanics behind runaway house prices: land scarcity, planning permission politics, mortgage credit, money creation, low interest rates and quantitative easing
• How Right to Buy, the sell-off of council homes, and the shrinkage of social housing reshaped affordability and security
• The rise of buy-to-let and the “House of Landlords” — and why renters and investors end up bidding on the same starter homes
• The hidden pitfalls of modern “solutions”: Help to Buy, shared ownership, leasehold flats and leasehold houses, ground rent clauses, service charges and the “mortgaged tenant” reality
• The lived experience of private renting: poor standards, repairs ignored, overcrowding, homelessness pressure, housing benefit gaps, and the fear of no-fault eviction

Most importantly, Generation Rent doesn’t stop at diagnosis. It sets out realistic, radical action to restore common sense and decency: stronger tenant rights, better regulation of the rental market, genuine affordable housing at scale, a renewed social housebuilding programme, and the hard conversations Britain avoids about land, taxation, and land value (including the case for land reform and a land value tax).

Perfect for readers searching for: UK housing crisis, housing affordability, rent crisis, generation rent, private rented sector, renting in Britain, tenant rights, renters reform, rent control, rent caps, no-fault eviction, deposits, letting agents, buy-to-let, buy-to-let mortgage, property market economics, house price inflation, housing bubble, property ladder, first-time buyer, saving for a deposit, mortgage affordability, interest-only, Bank of England policy, quantitative easing, planning permission, green belt, gentrification, intergenerational wealth, inequality, cost of living, council housing, council estates, housing associations, social housing, housing benefit, universal credit, homelessness, temporary accommodation, leasehold scandal, ground rent, service charges, land reform, land value tax.

If you’ve ever wondered why your rent rises faster than wages, why “starter homes” feel out of reach, or why housing quality can be so bleak in one of Europe’s richest countries, start here — and walk away with the clarity to challenge the myths, spot the incentives, and argue for change. Pick up Generation Rent today and finally make the housing system make sense. Read it for the facts, the stories, and the solutions — then start the conversation your street and city need.

“A lively account of arguably the country’s biggest social and economic problem.” — Martin Wolf, Financial Times
“There’s something rotten at the heart of Britain’s housing sector…” — Oliver Bullough, Moneyland

Reviews


'The housing crisis is just getting started,' warns Timperley in this important book.' – Martin Chilton, The Independent

‘There’s something rotten at the heart of Britain’s housing sector, which is blighting the dreams of millions of young people. Generation Rent dissects this morbid condition, with rigour and passion — and shows us a way to treat it.’ – Oliver Bullough, Moneyland

'Chloe Timperley lands punch after punch on a rental system that is dysfunctional, demeaning and downright unfair’ – Eoin Brown TD, Irish Times

'Black mould, botched repairs, rent hikes, revenge evictions, stolen deposits – the stories recounted in bleak detail in this lively book will be sadly familiar to many people who have rented in the UK. Chloe Timperley, herself a young renter with a background in finance, is an insightful guide to how we got here, charting the impact of the right to buy, the iniquitous role of land agents, the scandal of ground rents and the ongoing leasehold trap – all of which have led to a situation where, on average, renters are spending close to 40% of their incomes on lining their landlords’ pockets.' – Oliver Wainwright, The Guardian

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