Young families priced out of homeownership
Saturday 23rd May, 2026
New Resolution Foundation analysis shows the UK private rented sector now houses 12.9 million people and that children living in private rentals have nearly tripled to 3.2 million, driven by young families in their 30s who are being priced out of buying a home and spending around 35% of their income on rent. This gives Rightmove a clear opening to explain how shifting tenure patterns affect the housing market in the UK — from rental demand and affordability signals agents and landlords see on the platform to changing search behaviour among family-sized buyers and renters.
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Why have we flagged this?
This research shows a national housing trend directly affecting homebuyers and renters — Rightmove can add market data, regional breakout and agent insight to the story.
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Thinking...
One in X family homes now listed as rentals
Quantify how many three-bed-plus homes on Rightmove are for rent versus for sale.
Data to investigate: Analyse your live and historical listings to calculate the share of family-sized homes (3+ bedrooms) listed to rent vs for sale by year since 2010.
Why: A single, stark percentage shows how ownership is slipping out of reach for families.
Where rent eats the most of a family budget
Reveal the UK areas where advertised family-home rents have risen fastest versus local earnings.
Data to investigate: Analyse your advertised monthly rents for 3+ bed rentals by local authority since 2015 and rank areas by percentage rent growth; compare to ONS median full-time pay for the same areas and year to show rent-to-income ratios.
Why: Parents will click to see if their area tops the squeeze, and editors love clear league tables.
The school run squeeze: family homes go in days
Show how quickly family-sized rentals are being snapped up versus a decade ago.
Data to investigate: Analyse your time-to-let data for 3+ bed rentals, comparing average days from listing to let agreed now versus 2015, nationally and by region.
Why: A dramatic drop in days-to-let proves demand pressure on families in a single number.