Rent & Housing

[Since the Town and Country Planning Act in 1947, greenbelt nooses have ringed British cities, controlling, constricting and crushing their outward growth.](https://www.cityam.com/protecting-the-green-belt-is-not-about-the-environment-its-blinkered-self-interest/) Greenbelts are self-evidently harmful. For all of human history, when cities have grown, so have economies, societies and living standards, as well as, in some cases, civilisations and empires. But now, the average house in Britain costs more than ten times the average salary. Finding even a single room to rent in a flat-share has become a fierce Darwinian competition in the nation's capital. [4 million houses are missing from the British housing market.](https://www.centreforcities.org/publication/the-housebuilding-crisis/#:~:text=Compared%20to%20the%20average%20European,homes%20a%20year%20is%20reached) Who would know that interfering with such a fundamental process of human development would have such dire effects? [Apparently not Clement Attlee](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/21/keir-starmer-labour-housebuilding-green-belts-new-towns), who, delirious on his own success, having beaten Britain's beloved wartime leader, Winston Churchill, in the 1945 general election, decided he would have a fun old time of it, ensuring a gradual, yet inevitable decline in Britain for many decades to come.

What might've been had greenbelts not strangled our cities' growth for the past seven decades? Tokyo, the largest city on Earth, continues to power a Japanese economy that might otherwise slowly capitulate to demographic collapse. Tokyo is, in truth, a combination of several large cities that grew into a formidable conurbation in a way that could only have happened in a greenbelt-less world. And what a world must that be. In Germany, the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation is a sprawling urban mass of many cities and towns that have coalesced into one of the most productive urban areas on Earth. The area is roughly equal in population to the area of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, and Leeds put together. What sort of Northern Powerhouse might've emerged had these cities been permitted to grow naturally?

> In a supposedly capitalist country, it does not make sense that there is a blanket ban on building. It is totalitarian.

These greenbelts are mutant- they are disgustingly supermassive tumours growing upon our cities- the beating hearts and the breathing lungs that give oxygen to our economy and society. [12.6% of England is given over to greenbelt land](https://www.cpre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/FullGreenBeltreport_1.pdf); [around 2% of England is built on](https://mperryassociates.com/2022/11/16/buildings-in-britain/)- clearly, the government is worried about the wrong "blob". Even worse is that greenbelts aren't even that green. It ain't easy being green- and greenbelts fail entirely to be so. The greenbelt is a combination of scrubland, brownfield sites, golf courses, and intensively farmed monocultures- much more dark, satanic mills than green and pleasant land. And greenbelts are destructive to our society, much less preservative as many claim. The commandment to preserve is best served by allowing young people to live where they grew up, allowing communities to grow naturally, with children and grandchildren living in the same places. Instead, it's a 45-minute drive to visit Grandma- so you don't really get to see her all too often anymore.

How dare greenbelt advocates claim they strive to preserve?

How dare this be allowed to continue?

And it will continue.

![A patch of greenbelt land outside of Cardiff|1500x1000](https://res.cloudinary.com/fledger/image/upload/v1687816896/post/green-belt_bxeola.jpg "Much of what we believe to be luscious green spaces are in fact overgrown scrublands which double up as local tipping sites.")

There seems to be no end in sight. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. Only crowing environmentalists wailing about the need to preserve the habitats of creatures nobody has ever heard of. Centuries ago, the counties of Lincolnshire and Somerset were primarily made up of marsh and fenland. They were entirely drained over the centuries, and painstakingly, towns, cities and villages emerged from what was once swampland. 

Had modern environmentalists existed at the time, presumably, there would've been many tantrums — perhaps Just Stop Draining would've blocked Ye Olde Motorwaye, sitting hand in hand.

But the marshes and fens were drained. And we're still here. Nothing particularly disastrous happened. That favourite environmentalist catchphrase "ecosystem collapse" never emerged in reality, and a righteous fireball of green-fingered Thunbergian justice never did engulf the West Country and the East Midlands.

So let's abolish the green belt. Gone. No more. Concreted over. In a supposedly capitalist country, it does not make sense that there is a blanket ban on building. It is totalitarian. Developers should be allowed to build on it. They can be directed to build first on brownfield sites, farms and golf courses ([which make up 7% of London's greenbelt](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58331413)) — because there is enough poor quality greenbelt land that building on that first may be enough to rebalance supply and demand for housing.

Abolishing the greenbelt should not be met with fear — are you listening, people of Surrey? There will still be somewhere to walk the dog — and I'm sure you'll find a new golf club somewhere; you might just have to drive a bit further. But with that great hardship — and oh, how great that hardship is — comes so many benefits. Generations of families will be able to live together in the same communities. Young people will be able to move to cities for jobs and opportunities. Abolishing the Greenbelt will break the poisonous shackles that are killing Britain.

I, for one, cannot wait.

Finding even a single room to rent in a flatshare has become a fierce Darwinian competition in the nation's capital.

The Greenbelt has become a Green-noose

:style[The Greenbelt]{block="true" fontSize="98.5"} :style[has become a]{block="true" fontSize="102"} :style[Green-_noose_]{block="true" fontSize="108"}

I’ve been to three picket lines, four protests and witnessed two occupations in the eighteen months I’ve been at university. I’ve heard chanting and music, I’ve seen the same banners and faces time and time again, and I’ve listened to MPs talk and Students Union representatives argue. I’ve stood in the freezing cold and pouring rain with lecturers complaining about their pensions, leafleted with students protesting arms agreements, and marched with members of the public about the cost of living crisis.

There is a part of me, I suppose, that can’t help but wonder if it’s to do with the teenage desire to fight back, to look at the regime and object more vocally than the older generations. It could of course be to do with my new location or the people I surround myself with. And yet, the factor that I always seem to come back to is the very fact that I am at university itself.

I had never experienced any of these things before going to university: perhaps this was the nature of the sleepy village I grew up in, but even with decent transport links to the big cities, I was very far out of my comfort zone when I witnessed my first protest in Lancaster, as it was unlike anything I had seen or experienced before. It took friends dragging me along (and, I suppose, the fact that on several occasions I was writing about them for student publications, so I was interviewing people) for me to be entirely comfortable, purely because it was so radically different.

## What happened in Manchester?

To sum up several years of ongoing discontent succinctly, the UoM Rent Strike group occupied the Simon building, a large mixed-use academic building, amongst others (including the John Owens building, which contained senior staff offices) in The University of Manchester for six weeks in protest over the lack of any cost of living support and standard of accommodation. This ultimately ended when, after the university failed to meet with the group, they instead chose to take them to court to gain a possession order and [use bailiffs to evict the group at 5.20 AM](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-65037590).

![A student being carried out of the Simon building at The University of Manchester by bailiffs.|1080x1350|floatLeft](https://res.cloudinary.com/fledger/image/upload/v1681245098/post/uom_bailiffs_qtrirh.jpg "A student is carried out of the Simon building at The University of Manchester by bailiffs. Image from [@rentstrikeUoM](https://twitter.com/rentstrikeUoM/status/1638451005493764097).")

One of my friends was inside the occupation during the eviction, and we woke up to a message on a group chat saying that they had been evicted at 6 AM. It’s a sad reality of the situation that none of us were particularly concerned. We were more resigned to the fact that it doesn’t seem like the university particularly cared that the bailiffs physically carried the occupiers out, something that was well documented on phones and has been played on news channels across the country.

## It’s not just Manchester

Occupations of this nature have happened at universities in many other places across the last academic year. There have been unprecedented actions taken by universities in response in some instances: the [use of private investigators](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/mar/13/sheffield-university-criticised-over-handling-of-protest-investigation#:~:text=Sheffield%20University%20criticised%20for%20hiring%20private%20investigator%20after%20protest,-Private%20investigator%20hired&text=Sheffield%20University%20has%20been%20criticised,in%20one%20of%20its%20buildings.) at Sheffield University has been well documented, and in [Dundee](https://twitter.com/dundeeoccupy/status/1638217082494935041/photo/3), university security went as far as to call the police on occupiers, an escalation not previously seen before in Scotland. However, for the large part, these actions go ignored.

So forgive me if I suspect that the main reason for the number of strikes and protests I’ve been to since going to uni has been to do with the fact that I’ve quite simply gone to university. It’s not just us: it’s everywhere. There’s a growing pattern of discontent across the country, and students aren’t afraid of letting it out and being vocal. For many people, Manchester has been the final straw. They were there for six weeks, and university management still wouldn’t meet with them. Some of the students attended the court date and [attested](https://thetab.com/uk/manchester/2023/03/21/manchester-university-takes-students-to-high-court-over-occupation-of-simon-building-56906) to the fact that the senior member of staff from the university disappeared through a back exit rather than facing them in person. The occupiers themselves were defended in court by a second-year law student, but failed to fight the possession order. It’s strange to think we live in a world where the only place that students are seeing their senior university staff is in a courtroom.

Maybe the reason strikes have become such a huge part of so many young people’s lives when we go to university is that there are now massive things that affect us personally, and that we want to fight for. I’m not at Manchester University, but if I was, I’d be on rent strike along with the [97% of students](https://twitter.com/rentstrikeUoM/status/1640334633287012353/photo/1) at the university who voted on 24th March to support the action.

![A joint cost of living and support strikes demonstration at The Queen Victoria Memorial in Dalton Square, Lancaster.|1600x720](https://res.cloudinary.com/fledger/image/upload/v1681245098/post/lancaster_demo_hg2tkx.jpg "One of the first protests I went to this academic year: a joint cost of living and support strikes demonstration in Lancaster.")

More people are protesting now than ever, especially more young people. There’s a cost of living crisis, and it seems like there’s a new strike every week. Even in our places of learning, people’s voices are being heard, some for the first time. Yet it feels like more than ever our voices remain unheard. If a building is closed whilst we to get the authorities to listen? Well, I’m all for it.

It’s strange to think we live in a world where the only place that students are seeing their senior university staff is in a courtroom.

Protests happen at Unis everywhere. It took bailiffs in Manchester for people to notice

Protests happen at Unis everywhere. It took bailiffs in Manchester for people to notice.

When a tenancy comes to an end you go through the usual motions; emptying out the fridge and freezer, clearing shelves and cupboards until the contents of your life lie before you in a handful of suitcases and boxes. You give the place a good clean like it's your full-time job, though you know in your heart that your landlord will inevitably charge you all the costs for cleaning. So you say your farewells, and as the front door closes, so does this chapter of your life.

Wrong. A week later you're receiving a very anaemic deposit from your landlord, having been charged for all manner of items and false claims around the property. The dispute begins, and it is exhausting.

This episode was brought to you by the failing UK rental market system, and its back-to-back repeats until you magic up enough money to afford a mortgage on a house and finally escape the mire.

For me, it was a mattress, which my private landlord claimed I had ruined and needed replacing, despite it being an old mattress when my tenancy began. My landlord didn't even mention their intentions, they just subtracted the cost. I saw it. I argued it. I was compensated. But I only got my money back after refusing to pay half and submitting a dispute to the deposit holder.

In my case it was a dodgy deposit claim that I refused to pay for, but for others its dubious tenancy agreements pushed by landlords, [like those seen in St. Andrews](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-62149409) where their homes and life must be abandoned over the golfing season so that fat-cat landlords or letting agents can rent out rooms to short-term tenants and make a quick buck. And where this is the case, the landlord has all the cards.

## Rent-seeking landlords see us as cash crops.

As a tenant, the rental system is broken. So completely are you at the mercy of entirely uninterested, rent-seeking landlords, who see you as nothing more than ripe cash crops. It is a stain on our society.

Currently, the average monthly rent sits at [£1103, up 10% from 2021](https://homelet.co.uk/homelet-rental-index). In fact, rent increases have seemingly followed inflation rates since 2008, with the value of a shoe-box room increasing by dint of its mere existence in a property.

At the same time, the total real terms pay for workers in the UK has been stagnant over the same period, with a wild negative swing in income in recent months. This of course means we renters are only losing money and we cannot afford to pay rent on top of the rising cost of living costs.


![A woman presenting tenancy contract to the viewer, with a pen ready to sign.|1200x801](https://res.cloudinary.com/fledger/image/upload/v1658925021/post/landleeches_contract_cfdox8.jpg "Student tenants renting in St. Andrews were given no other option than to sign contracts with most landlords stipulating that they must abandon their homes during the \"The Open\", so that landlords could rent them out to would-be visitors for higher value rents.")

## We don't have enough money to afford rent and rising bills.

This year, many tenants, whose bills are included in the rental payments, will have had their landlords increase rent by upwards of [15% as early as February](https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/apr/23/meet-the-tenants-being-forced-from-their-homes-by-soaring-rents-in-the-uk#:~:text=Chestertons%2C%20a%20London%20letting%20agency,of%20%C2%A32%2C348%20a%20month). You might say that's fair; energy prices are increasing, and landlords have to cover the bills somehow, yet following the announcement of the [£400 energy grant](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/energy-bills-support-scheme-explainer) did bills go down? No, of course, they didn't. And whether they ever will come down is doubtful. So what was the point of it? Landlords just pocketed the extra money.

Where bills were not included in the rent, landlords increased the rent of their houses anyway to be at parity with "market value". And because we tenants were paying for the utility bills, all of this additional rent was pure profit to the landlords.

Your landlord will be raking in so much money that they won't even need a job. Whilst we're spending so much rent on housing we might need to reconsider our job. It means less money is being saved by tenants for deposits, resulting in longer renting periods. And as more generations enter the rental market, demand increases, and so landlords increase rent prices. 

On and on the cycle goes for the so-called “generation rent”. 

With no end in sight, we will be renting for life.

## The housing market is broken.

What new affordable housing is built is often [bought up by housing companies](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/22/blackstone-6bn-deal-homes) before they are even advertised to first-time buyers, and always bought to rent.

In fact, recently, housing companies and real estate investors have begun constructing properties or buying houses with the [sole intention of renting them out](https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/build-to-rent/) at above market value; such is the extent of the profit to be made.

Forget about social housing. The housing market exists to profit mortgage providers and investment bankers. It is a housing crisis.

And yet in this country, we get a bad rap from society about how we spend our money. We're told by most people that if we want to buy our own property someday, we should stop buying avocado on toast and watching Netflix, or just "get a better job".

But when our parents and landlords paid for their house, the mortgage was just three times the value of the property and their job salary was possibly half the total cost. Today the reality isn't just a bad deal, it is a sick joke. Most house prices across the country are nearing the millions and no job income can ever cover the mortgage that will need to be paid. Those claiming that we get a bigger loan or save more money because "it's an investment" are living with outdated perceptions of our country. It is a statement of fact; times have changed and home ownership is untenable for most young people. 

With this new reality, we tenants should be the ones whom the government looks to help. Yet, of course, the private landlords who whine about their property take the limelight instead.

## Private landlords have had it too good.

With the new [Renters' Reform Bill](https://www.lettingaproperty.com/landlord/blog/renters-reform-bill-2022/), professional landlords were crying out that this was the final nail in the coffin; that the new regulations were unmanageable, and investment in the housing market “sector” would only decrease and possibly half. Some rent-seeking landlords with multiple profit-paying properties are even [complaining that they've had to sell one or two houses](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61803123) to "make it more manageable".

But it's about time tenants were put above profit. And although the landlords will complain, we must put tenants first for the sake of society.

If and when it comes in, the new Renters Reform Bill will only allow landlords to increase rents once per year. 

*Unmanageable*.

The bill will also introduce a new Ombudsman, so disputes between tenants and landlords may be resolved outside of court. 

*Scandalous*.

It also removes tenant "no fault" evictions.

*Outrageous*. 

In fact, the National Residential Landlords Association [(NRLA) are campaigning](https://www.nrla.org.uk/campaigns/rental-reform) to maintain the powers to evict tenants where professional landlords believe they have a “legitimate” reason. 

They are social parasites. 

The reality is that even basic rights for tenants have parasitic private landlords crying out that the sky is falling. That's how good landlords have had it until now.

I'd play them a song on my violin, but I sold it to pay my rent.

However, despite all its benefits, this new bill does not make a point to place a cap on how much landlords may increase rent paid within a year, something sorely missing given the rate at which landlords have risen rents in recent times. So although the landlords may increase the rent only once per year, they will probably increase the rent considerably.

Is there anything we can do? Probably not. The whole renting system is predatory, it relies on our lack of security and preys on those too timid or uninformed to speak up for themselves. With every deposit and monthly payment, they pick away at our savings until we find ourselves too weak, and too tired, to climb the property ladder. 

The best we can do is be resilient. Let's not let each landlord parasite push us around. From deposits to dodgy tenancy agreements, let's stand up for ourselves and protect our pockets from exploitation.

Even basic rights for tenants have parasitic landlords crying out that the sky is falling. I'd play them a song on my violin, but I sold it to pay my rent.

Landlords are parasites and you're the host

The UK economy is in a state of crisis. Inflation has reached 9%, the highest rate in 30 years. Food, fuel and housing costs are rising at the highest rate since the 1980s. Yet despite increases across the board, not everyone is feeling the heat. A disparity is emerging between those who can afford to save and those who can barely get by. Our lowest earners, particularly those with little or no disposable income, will be hardest hit by rising costs. Proportionately, they will spend more of their income on essentials, such as food or energy, than the rich. In turn, they will have very little, if anything, left to stow away in their piggy banks.

We’ve all been in a situation where our earnings are low - working our first jobs, starting a new career, or studying for our future.  We all know that this can be a daunting time and the current cost of living has only exacerbated that. Young people today, the lowest earners in society, are spending twice as much on fundamental living costs such as rent, mortgage payments and household bills, than the over-fifties. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they were also most likely to be furloughed or made redundant and any savings that they may have accrued will likely have been used through this turbulent time. With the furlough scheme now at an end, many will be without financial support once again.

> Millennials today are not only less likely to get married than previous generations but are also more likely to delay marriage for financial reasons, preferring to achieve financial stability first.

Rising costs mean that low-income, single adult households will spend almost half of their income on gas and electricity alone. This will use up most, if not all, of the household’s income, leaving nothing leftover to save. Of those below retirement age, almost half now say that they cannot afford to save. It affects me too. It has taken me years of study to achieve a professional qualification which allows me to work a full-time job in a reputable industry. Yet by definition, I am living in fuel poverty - spending on average 10% of my monthly income on energy bills. This is not an issue that can be avoided by full-time work and professional qualifications. The impact of the rising cost of living is being felt on a much wider scale.

We all want to have savings in the bank. Not only do they provide a safety blanket for the rainy days, but they help us to acquire the privileges that we are encouraged to aim for in the increasingly materialistic world in which we live. Traditional views encourage us to go to university, to marry, and to buy our first home. Yet each of these aspirations require a hefty savings pot which many of us are simply unable to obtain.

![The housing market.|1200x794](https://res.cloudinary.com/fledger/image/upload/v1655028887/post/rainy_days_houses_bgbz1g.jpg "Today, renting a property will set you back on average just over £1,000 per month - an average monthly increase of 8.3% from 2021. For some of us, this takes up more than half of our monthly income. For those looking to buy, the average house price in the UK now sits at £273,762. This means that a first-time buyer obtaining a 95% mortgage would need to save on average over £13,500 for a deposit. In the current economic climate, saving this amount of money is, for many, simply not feasible.")

We are at an age where we are told to knuckle down and work hard so that we can earn more and save for our future. That we should start saving for our first home; invest in our pensions; and take on a side hustle for some extra cash. If there is extra cash to splash, we ought to increase our pension contributions if we want to retire early or invest in stocks and shares. If we want children, we should be earning more and putting away funds for their education. If we want a certain lifestyle - a big house, holidays, gym memberships, a dog - then we will need to factor in some more money for that. If we want to retrain or invest in further study, we had better save a few extra grand for the fees –but don’t forget to have spare savings for an unexpected leak or redundancy. We are the generation who are expected to put in the graft to achieve certain milestones, and yet we simply cannot achieve these because the money we earn is all used up on living now, rather than being invested for the future. There is a direct correlation between our age and the milestones that are expected of us, and yet it is our age which limits our ability to save and fulfil those expectations.

Take marriage for example. Millennials today are not only less likely to get married than previous generations, but are also more likely to delay marriage for financial reasons, preferring to achieve financial stability first. The same can be seen in respect of home ownership. In the early 1980s, over 62% of 25 to 34-year-olds were homeowners. However by 2012, this had reduced to less than 43%. With low incomes and massive expenditure, it is not surprising that now only 28% of the young actually own their own home, despite their preference to buy rather than to rent. With house prices on the rise, the average house price in the UK currently sits at £273,762. This means that a first-time buyer obtaining a 95% mortgage would need to save on average over £13,500 for a deposit. In the current economic climate, saving this amount of money is, for many, simply not feasible. As a result, our generation is less likely than previous generations to get on the property ladder, and those who do are likely to do so later on in life.

Without the funds to buy, many of us are paying a pretty penny for a roof over our heads. Today, renting a property will set you back on average just over £1,000 per month - an average monthly increase of 8.3% from 2021. For some of us, this takes up more than half of our monthly income. I find it particularly frustrating, knowing that I could be paying half of what I pay on rent towards a monthly mortgage payment instead, if I could only save for a deposit. Yet with rent consuming such a large portion of our income for a prolonged period of time, it becomes increasingly difficult to set funds aside. Some may consider relocating to somewhere cheaper. However, the cost of hiring a removal company, putting down a deposit, and taking time off work are all privileges that only those with extra cash lying around can afford. In addition, moving away from the city may mean a longer commute to work and with the cost of fuel and train travel also hitting record highs, the whack to our wallets becomes almost inescapable.

As if to add further insult to injury, the average university graduate in 2020 will have left university owing £45,000 in student debt. With student loan contributions being collected at source, graduates have no choice but to take a continual hit to their income until the loan is eventually paid or written off. With a decrease in the repayment threshold of student loans from £27,200 to £25,000 and plans to extend the loan repayment period from 30 to 40 years, graduates can expect to pay 9% of their earnings towards loan repayment throughout their working life and into their sixties.

![Students graduating from University.|1200x441](https://res.cloudinary.com/fledger/image/upload/v1655028886/post/rainy_days_graduation_yqhfdq.jpg "In the last decade, universities saw a 450% increase in the number of student mental health declarations, with approximately two-thirds of students reporting a mental health condition caused by financial pressure.")

Saving money whilst studying has also become an impossible task for many - with around a quarter of students reporting that they have just £50 to live on each month. Maintenance loans are available to support those in need, however the loans on offer are often insufficient, with 50% of students reporting that the loan does not cover all of their living costs. If you, like me, can only afford an education by relying on maintenance loans, then you will likely struggle to save during your studies and will also take a reduced income for the rest of your working life simply for the privilege. First generation students like me go to university in the hope of bettering their job prospects and escaping poverty. Yet with higher education limiting the ability to save both during study and thereafter, the graduate premium is restricted for those coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. With two-thirds of Brits now viewing university as an unaffordable luxury, there is a serious risk that income inequality will continue to grow.

::post{#how-will-students-study-at-university-when-they-cannot-afford-to-live}

The impact of rising costs is affecting more than just the physical sums in the bank. With little-to-no disposable income, our mental health has also been thrashed. It only takes a few scrolls on my social media feed to see my peers holding the keys to their first house, celebrating a recent promotion, or planning their wedding day - further fuelling the belief that I am somewhat lagging behind. It is completely understandable that we may feel stressed, overwhelmed or embarrassed by the lack of money in the bank and the feeling that we cannot achieve these milestones. In the last decade, universities saw a 450% increase in the number of student mental health declarations, with approximately two thirds of students reporting a mental health condition caused by financial pressure. Even if you are not in poverty, just the fear of financial instability can have the same detrimental impact on your mental health as poverty itself. The consequences of poor mental health are that people may struggle to attend work and stay on top of their finances - with 63% of people with mental health problems struggling to make financial decisions whilst unwell. As a result, many of us will end up in a vicious cycle whereby our stress and unhappiness at the inability to save money actually leads to further financial difficulty.

Young people are in desperate need of more widely-available maintenance grants, affordable housing, greater rent protection measures and proposals which would better support our income and help us save. Yet the proposals introduced by the government to tackle the cost of living crisis have failed to take young people into account. The recently announced support package will be welcomed by those struggling with the rising cost of energy bills. However, this is a temporary solution for issues that will be impacting us for a lifetime. Other proposals also fall short. With many students and young professionals studying in the city or choosing to live at home to keep costs down, only a privileged few will own a car and thus reap the benefits of the proposed cut to fuel duty. The increased National Insurance threshold will be of no benefit to people in full or part-time education, or part-time employment, who were already earning too little to contribute. Furthermore, the proposed Council Tax rebate of £150 fails to take account of the disparity between those feeling the effects of the current crisis and those who are still able to save. It implements a broad-brush approach; paying all households within Council Tax bands A to D, rather than targeting those households who need assistance most. Not to mention the fact that it is of no benefit to full time students who are exempt from paying Council Tax in the first place.

If adequate support is not put in place now, then the consequences of the colossal costs imposed on our generation today will have a knock on effect on our future. The value of our investments will be adversely affected and we will be forced to work into our late seventies, unable to retire any earlier. The government must do more to recognise the dire reality that we are facing. They cannot sit back and rely on social media to grant us a pathway to fame and fortune.

Young people today are underpaid, with wages constantly lagging behind the inflation rate. The lowest earners in society are living and working in real-time through the devastating economic impact of Brexit, the Covid-19 epidemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  Unprecedented price increases are disproportionately affecting the younger generation and yet we have been completely overlooked in the government’s support scheme. The reality is that many of us are unable to pay bills and afford housing, never mind being in a position to save money and fulfil the traditional milestones of higher education and buying a home. It saddens me, that by being unsupported and unable to save for our future, our generation will pay the price of this crisis for the rest of our working lives. When every day is a rainy day, we are no longer saving; we are surviving.

The UK economy is in crisis; our aspirations require a hefty savings pot which we're unable to obtain.