00:00Renting has long been the step before buying, but that step is becoming more expensive.
00:06Across Bristol and the West Country, higher monthly rents can leave people with less money to save towards a deposit,
00:12while first-time buyers are facing purchase prices that are much higher.
00:17For anyone hoping to move from renting into ownership, the sums are becoming increasingly difficult to make work.
00:24The rental market, it's subject to market forces, quite clearly, supply and demand.
00:31We have the consequence of people wanting to get out of the rental market, the suppliers, if you like, who
00:37buy the properties,
00:38because, of course, there's less money to be made for a variety of reasons.
00:42There are more regulations put on, which, of course, in and of itself is a good thing for the renter's
00:49point of view.
00:49But nonetheless, of course, it's all about yields, as the property market talks about.
00:55So, of course, if you're making less money and people disappear, fewer properties are on the market.
01:00Also, of course, the fact that the property market in general is so much more uncertain, people aren't selling,
01:06there are fewer houses coming onto the market, and, of course, we know that's a perennial problem.
01:10Houses are expensive at the best of times.
01:12So, of course, you've got a larger number of people trying to go after these properties.
01:17So, again, coming back to the rental market, or the rental market in particular,
01:22prices go up to reflect this increased demand and reduced supply.
01:27Here in Bristol and the West Country, Office for National Statistics figures show the average private rent in Bristol
01:35reached £1,880 a month in July.
01:39That's up 6.5% in a year.
01:42Across the South West, the average was £1,236.
01:47At the same time, the average price paid by a first-time buyer in Bristol reached £317,000 in June.
01:56That's up 3.8% year-on-year.
01:59That leaves many renters squeezed from both directions.
02:03Higher housing costs each month, while the amount needed to buy, remains substantial.
02:08The picture varies across the region, but for people without family help or large savings,
02:12putting money aside for a deposit can take longer, even when house prices are not rising especially quickly.
02:20Of course, what the government hope is, this is like an economic upturn and things get better and interest rates
02:26come down.
02:27But I don't suspect that's going to happen any time soon.
02:29So I think this is an issue that we're going to be dealing with for the very, very foreseeable future
02:33and may not even be sort of solved this side of the next general election, whenever it occurs.
02:38The pressure is not simply about the price of a house.
02:42For renters trying to buy, it's also about how much can be put aside each month after housing costs.
02:48And while the picture varies hugely by area and income, rising rents can make the journey towards a deposit that
02:57little bit longer.
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