The Vaboo Renter Sentiment Survey: what are the UK’s greatest renting concerns?
The cost of renting in the UK has skyrocketed over the last 10 years. Rents in some places have risen by a staggering 63% over the last decade, and for most, the cost of renting will take up at least a quarter of their income (it is estimated this is two-thirds for Londoners).
To better understand the motivations and concerns of the modern-day renter, Vabooconducted the first-of-its-kind report into the major financial concerns of the UK renting population. The survey was made up of over 1000 respondents, aged between 18 – 65+ who rent privately, through social housing or within the Build to Rent sector. Those surveyed were not Vaboo users.
The survey found 86% of the UK renting population is concerned by the rising cost of living. It also found that irrespective of age, region or gender, renters are constantly on the look-out for where and how they can save money.
All survey respondents expressed interest in discounts and offers that could help them save money on their daily expenses. Interestingly, where renters are most interested in saving money is on day-to-day necessities; Household bills (79%), Groceries (77%) and Transport (43%).
The survey also found a direct correlation between concerns around the rising cost of living and saving money on the bare essentials. Those aged between 35-44 are the most concerned age group (88%), and those most interested in saving on groceries (79%). The same is true of the South West, the UK region most concerned by the rising cost of living (91%), is the most interested in saving money on groceries (86%) and household bills (87%).
Unsurprisingly, more than half of London renters would like to be able to save money on transport costs (58%).
Even with such high rental costs, in total three-quarters of UK renters would be happy to pay higher rent if this meant they had access to national (43%) and local discounts (32%) or offers that reduce the cost of living.
Across the UK, spending when it comes to leisure activity is less of a priority. As little as 36% renters are looking for ways to reduce spending when it comes to holidays and only 26% looking to save on health and fitness activities indicating that saving on day-to-day necessities takes precedence for UK renters.
Alongside the survey, Vaboo has also developed The Renter Sentiment Map a first-of-its-kind publicly available tool mapping out the opinions of 3,000 UK renters. The Renter Sentiment Survey is made up of data from a balanced set extracted from the Renter Sentiment Map’s 3,000 renter respondents.
Jonathan Stein, CEO of Vaboo, explains, “The rising cost of living has long been an area of concern – and rightly so. Rent prices show no signs of decreasing, so renters are looking for ways to save money in all other areas of their lives. The number of UK renters are on the rise, and so too, is the opportunity for accommodation providers. However, if providers do not implement measures to help counter their renters concerns they will find themselves falling behind the pack.”
Vaboo, develop perks and engagement platforms for rented accommodation providers in order to help their clients give their renters exclusive access to money-saving offers that combat affordability concerns.
The full report can be found here: Vaboo Renter Sentiment Index 2018.