Charity calls for stronger protections in Renters (Reform) Bill as renter costs soar

Charity calls for stronger protections in Renters (Reform) Bill as renter costs soar

0:02 AM, 23rd May 2024, About 2 months ago 11

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The Renters (Reform) Bill, currently making its way through the House of Lords, doesn’t go far enough to address the growing financial strain on private renters, the debt charity StepChange warns.

It says the cost of renting in the UK has become increasingly unaffordable and points to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS data reveals that average private rents grew by 8.9% in the year to April.

StepChange says its research paints a worrying picture of the financial pressures facing private renters.

‘Renting in the PRS is increasingly unaffordable’

The charity’s head of policy, public affairs and research, Peter Tutton, said: “We’ve reached a point where renting in the PRS is increasingly unaffordable, yet the growing scarcity of social housing means that more and more financially or otherwise vulnerable people have no choice but to do so.

“Sky-high rents and wider cost of living pressures mean millions of private renters are scraping by or relying on credit to pay their rent.

“Even with the Renters (Reform) Bill currently in the Lords, PRS tenants are given no effective statutory protection from eviction if they do fall into problem debt.”

He added: “While it’s important that this Bill is progressed with a clear timeline of when Section 21 will end, we’d like to see changes that would increase security for private renters.”

Mr Tutton says that tenants should be protected from eviction that matches those for mortgagors and social housing tenants.

The charity also wants to see a government commitment to delivering affordable housing – and reduce the risk of PRS tenants losing their home because of rent arrears.

Renters are resorting to credit

Research from StepChange shows renters are resorting to credit to cover their rent, with 31% having used credit in the last year, up from 28% in January 2024.

Half of all private renters (50%) are struggling to keep up with bills and credit commitments, compared to just 40% of the general population.

The rising cost of living is also forcing renters to cut back on essentials, with a third (33%) having done so in the last year, compared to a quarter (26%) of all UK adults.


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Peter Merrick

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6:31 AM, 24th May 2024, About 2 months ago

"tenants should be protected from eviction that matches those for mortgagors and social housing tenants".
How can they dare to compare small private landlords, who often have just enough money to cover maintenance plus a bit for a rainy day and occasional non-payment, with massive institutions who have millions or billions of assets and cash to fall back on, plus the resources to ultimately pursue clients for non-payment? And in the case of banks, they have the ultimate recourse of repossessing and selling the property and getting their money back in full, usually at great cost to the former owner when it is sold well below market value?
The only way to make that pipe dream work is for the state to underwrite the risk and protect the landlord as an essential service provider.
If they were to protect the landlord against non-payment and criminal damage and neglect of our property by tenants by making it a serious offence to wilfully withhold rent or degrade a house by trashing it before they leave, how many more properties would be available to rent instead of taking months and thousands of pounds to reinstate and often being sold off instead of being available to rent again?
Mick is absolutely right - as it stands, in such a hostile environment, only the landlord who puts his own interest front and centre is going to be able to survive in such a risky and hostile environment as we currently have.

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