The Invisible Exit Tax: How Renting Drains a Generation’s Future
The pencil hovers over the worn notepad, tracing phantom lines. Another move. Another tally. First, there’s the new deposit, a number that seems to grow annually, eclipsing salaries. Then, the first month’s rent, a sum that always feels disproportionately large when paid in one lump. And then, the ghost in the machine: the £444 you’re almost certain you won’t see again from the place you’re leaving. It’s not just money; it’s a phantom limb of your savings account, severed each time you seek a new roof over your head. I remember scoffing at friends who bemoaned this a decade ago, thinking, ‘Just be tidy.’ Now, as my stomach rumbles, reminding me of the diet I optimistically started at 4 pm, I see how foolish that dismissal was. It’s not about tidiness alone; it’s about a deeper, insidious drain.
The ‘Exit Tax’ Explained
This recurring loss isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s what I’ve come to call the ‘Exit Tax.’ It’s the levy paid by those who, through no fault of their own, are denied the long-term stability of property ownership. Every three years, sometimes every year, you pack your life into boxes, find a new place, and face the same gauntlet. The previous landlord finds a scratch on the skirting board, a phantom crumb in the oven, a dust bunny under the fridge – things that would be ignored in an owner-occupied home, but which, for a tenant, become justification to
