Following criticism of young voters supposedly not turning out to pledge a vote during the 2016 EU Referendum, new analysis suggests that more youngsters voted during the recent General Election.
Analysis from tenant referencing firm Rent4sure suggests that the size of the 18-24 age group currently not on the electoral roll has dropped by half during the last four years. In percentage terms, this was a drop from 4.9% to 2.5% -with this figure still falling.
Electorate
The analysis from Rent4sure looks at UK national referenced to rent property and shows that 98% of those in this category are now on the electoral roll. This was a rise of 2% from 2013.
Of this 98%, nearly one quarter are aged between 18-24, with over half aged between 25-39. Almost one fifth are aged between 40-64, with just 1.4% aged 65% or over.
More younger tenants likely to vote in future Elections
Luke Burton, director at Rent4sure, observed: ‘New housing minister Alok Sharma would be wise to sit up and take note of the growing influence of the ‘renting youth.’[1]
‘Generation Rent is growing with an anticipated 24 per cent of households predicted to be living in private rental accommodation by 2021, according to recent research by Knight Frank. What’s more the under 40’s make up the largest proportion of private renters,’ he continued.[1]
Concluding, Mr Burton said: ‘The rental generation is looking for appropriate housing and this demand is growing. Mr Sharma has a challenge ahead to ensure appropriate housing is available to meet demand, with investment in Build To Rent being a large factor.’[1]
[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/6/younger-private-tenants-increasingly-likely-to-register-to-vote