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The cladding scandal: A crisis for younger people

One of the core aims of the Intergenerational Foundation is to address the housing crisis facing younger and future generations. Over the past decade we have investigated how different generations “consume” or “occupy” housing and why change is needed. 

We have: 

  • Quantified the unfair subsidies given to landlords and our research led to policy changes, raising the stamp duty levy and reducing the tax advantages for buy-to-let investors.
  • Analysed why the housing crisis has led to older and younger members of society living further apart from each other and why that fuels intergenerational misunderstandings.
  • Called for a halt to the prolific growth of micro-homes by builders and developers exploiting younger people’s anxieties over being unable to own a home of their own and there has been some tightening up of the regulations.
  • Explained why the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the housing crisis as older generations bought up more space and drove up prices for the young.

This report provides yet more evidence that the wider housing crisis has pushed many younger people into buying substandard and dangerous homes and are therefore more likely to be victims of the cladding crisis. It explains how the government, developers, mortgage lenders, banks and builders are letting down a generation of younger people.