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1 in 15 parents in the North
blame short rental tenancies for making their children unsettled
1 in 15 parents in the North say
short term rentals, which result in frequent and stressful house moves, have
stopped their children feeling settled. The new research published by Shelter
reveals the worrying impact the Country's broken rental market is having on
families.
In the past decade, the number of renting families has more than doubled but the
law has failed to keep up. Renters only have a secure home for 6 months after
which their landlord can ask them to leave with just 2 months' notice and
without a reason. This will often be through no fault of their own, like if the
rent is hiked up to an unaffordable amount, or if the landlord wants to sell.
Unsurprisingly, this instability means parents are concerned about the impact of
constantly moving house on their children, with 39% worrying they will have to
change schools as a result of a future move. Though parents try to prevent this
happening, sometimes the distance is too far to commute.
Finding a new place to rent can be time consuming, stressful and expensive. It
is as much an emotional upheaval as a physical 1. In fact, 40% of parents
surveyed said searching for a new rented home had a negative impact on their
personal life and 7% said a short term rental negatively affected relationships
with friends or family members.
The loss of private rented homes remains the single biggest cause of
homelessness in England, a symptom of an unstable and expensive rental market.
That is why Shelter is calling on the government to introduce 5 year
tenancies to give renting families more stability.
Graeme Brown, Shelter's interim chief executive, said:- "Soaring house
prices mean more families are renting than ever before. But the dire state of
our rental market means they can only secure a home for 6 months; the
equivalent to just 2 school terms.
Every day at Shelter we speak to parents who are forced to move, faced with yet
another unsettling house move. And at the sharp end, a worrying number of
renting families are becoming homeless because they can't scrape together the
money needed for a deposit on a new place. No child deserves this upheaval.
We welcome the government's shift towards helping struggling renting families
but their plans will still leave the majority without the secure home they want
and need. Now is the time to fix this by introducing 5 year tenancies across the
board, allowing families to plan and save for the future and to feel secure and
settled in their homes."
Survey finds
⅓ of Brits
check up on friends' property values!
IT'S the topic of conversation at dinner parties all
across the land: how much is your property worth? We are, it's fair to say, a
nation obsessed with property value. It's hardly surprising, considering we're
one of the few European countries where being a homeowner; and aspiring to it;
is more common than being a renter. And what with property values tending to go
up (largely - recessions aside), we Brits see our homes as our nest egg, as well
as just our nest.
Estate Agents Keatons have surveyed 2,000 home owners in the UK to find out how
clued up we are about property values. And it turns out we're fairly savvy and
not just when it comes to our own! In fact, 36% of us have checked up on the
value of a friend, family member's, or neighbour's property, using an online
property valuation tool. This could be out of envy, or just plain curiosity,
but it goes to show we're a bit of a nosey nation when it comes to other
people's money.
Of these nosey parkers, men are more likely to check out the competition (we
imagine they don't like the idea that anyone they know is worth more than they
are…), while, regionally, those in the East Midlands (44%) are most likely to be
sniffing around their neighbours' property prices, followed by North West (41%)
and North East and in the South East (39%). Those in the East are the least interested in
finding out the value of property of their neighbours (24%).
Obviously, the most important property value to know is our own, and even
without specifically searching, 53% of us know how much our place is worth. And
we're also pretty optimistic about house prices; 32% of us think the value of
our property will go up this year; that's even despite Brexit and the
Trumpageddon! Of these positive souls, 64% are from the East of England.
21% of us are erring on the side of caution, and think our home's value will
stay static, while pessimists make up 7.2% of us, who believe our home value
will decrease; of those doom mongers, the most gloomy were from the North West
(23%). "It's a very British thing, to be preoccupied with property and prices. An Englishman's home is his castle, after
all! It's important to keep an eye on values, though; that way you know when the
right time to move, or improve, might be." says a Keatons spokesperson. |
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Children's futures in North
West at risk
MORE than a 3rd of parents in England
with children under 5 don't know whether their nursery employs qualified early
years teachers; staff trained specifically to support children's early learning
and development and help those falling behind a YouGov poll, commissioned by
Save the Children. Shockingly research
also shows that in 2016, alone, 1 in 3 started Primary
School falling behind their peers in areas like literacy and numeracy in part
because they didn't have access to these teachers. The consequences won't
end there as they found that those children who started behind, 7,400 will likely remain behind
in English, when they reach Secondary School, and 5,900 will remain behind in
maths; having potentially devastating consequences for the rest of their
schooling and even their careers!
Government stats show that boys and poor children are worst affected, with boys
63% more likely to be behind as girls in language, and poor children 60% more
likely to be behind than their peers from wealthier backgrounds.
Parents are concerned their own children could be at risk, according to the
poll. 28% worry their child will start Primary School behind in literacy and
numeracy, and 51% are worried about sending their child to a nursery without a
qualified teacher, leading to calls for the UK Government to urgently invest
within the
sector:-
► 73% of parents want the government to ensure all of England's nurseries have
qualified teachers.
► More than 80% think nurseries should help make sure children are ready for
School.
► More than 70% say they would rather send their child to a nursery with an
early years teacher than 1 without.
While all nurseries have staff who are trained to care for children, not all
have a qualified early years teachers who are specialists, trained to help
children develop their early language and numeracy skills through play, and to
help struggling children catch up by the time they reach school.
Children in the North West without an early years teacher are almost 10% less
likely to meet the expected levels of development when they start school
compared to children who do have a teacher. But currently, there is a huge
shortage of 2,100 nursery teachers in the North West, and the number of
applicants nationally are in decline as nurseries struggle with funding
pressures and recruitment costs.
Save the Children, along with leading child development experts, is calling on
the government to urgently address the shortage by investing in an early years
teacher for every nursery, starting in the most deprived areas of the country.
Tesse, a mother of 2 said:- "My daughter went to nursery with an early
years teacher before primary school and I'm so glad she did - it made a huge
difference to her language and attention skills and it also made her feel more
confident.
Starting reception behind their peers can be an anxious experience and
potentially have life long impacts, but I'm grateful that my daughter was able
to start reception with great enthusiasm and ready to learn, which was in large
part due to the help from a nursery that had an early years teacher."
Dr Elizabeth Kilbey, a Clinical Psychologist and expert from Channel Four's "Secret
Life of Four Year Olds" programme said:- "The early years of a child's
life are without a doubt the most crucial for their learning and development,
and likewise, where support for their learning makes the biggest difference.
Their brains absorb and grow the most when they're little, learning everything
from using words, phrases, and numbers, to understanding the world around them,
and building healthy relationships.
That's why early years teachers are so important; it's not about giving
toddlers a formal education, but growing their minds through play and simple
every day interactions that will give them the best start in life and that's
something all parents want for their children."
Kevin Watkins, Chief executive of Save the Children said:- "It's just not
acceptable that in this day and age, so many children in England are falling
behind before they even set foot in primary school – leaving them at risk of
staying behind throughout their school years and into the world of work.
Nurseries do an incredible job nurturing our children, but financial constraints
are leaving many of them struggling to hire the qualified early years teachers
who help give children the skills and confidence they need to learn and grow.
The evidence clearly shows the huge and transformational difference early years
teachers can make for children. That's why we're calling on government to ensure
every nursery has a qualified teacher. It's an investment we must make to help
every child reach their full potential." |
