UK sees biggest increase in renters

According to the Oxford Dictionary, 'Generation Rent' refers to the "generation of young adults who, because of high house prices, live in rented accommodation and are regarded as having little chance of becoming homeowners". When looking at new analysis from RENTCafé it is easy to see why this is listed as a British term. From 2010 to 2015, the share of households in the UK that were renting their home increased by 21.6 percent - a substantially higher rate than second-placed Ireland with growth of 12.3 percent.

There was of course a lot more scope for an increase in renters in the UK - where the cultural norm is to buy - compared to Germany for example, where it is much more common to rent, regardless of the economic situation. Germany saw a rise of 2.7 percent and in 2015 had a total of 48.1 percent of households renting. The latest figure for the UK stands at 36.5 percent.