The outlook for Generation Rent | The Oxford Student

The outlook for Generation Rent | The Oxford Student

For a sizeable minority of Oxford students, that wonderful hazy interlude between school and “real life” that is university is rapidly approaching an end. Chances are that if you’re a finalist, you’ve probably got your eyes fixed firmly on the present just now, and for good reason. But, while, if you’re anything like me, you may not yet have plans for life after university, you probably at least have some vague aspirations. I would venture that one aspiration common to most Oxford students is that one day you would like to own your own home. But, according to a survey published last week, home ownership is an increasingly unrealistic dream for our generation. Thanks to a combination of rising house prices, declining numbers of properties on the market and a reluctance on the part of banks and building societies to lend in the wake of the credit crunch, we are apparently destined to become part of “Generation Rent”.