New stats from
the English Housing Survey released today show that in
2018/19:
-
28% of
private renters found it difficult to pay rent – this works out
as almost 1.2 million private renters
-
61% of
private renters had no savings
-
Private
renting households spent on average 33% of their household
income on rent and this increased to 47% for people aged
16-24
Polly
Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said:
“These figures highlight
again the bleak situation that many renters are in as they
struggle to navigate the financial chaos of the pandemic. And
they echo what our services hear on a daily basis - that many
families don’t have savings to fall back on and that young
renters have been particularly badly
hit.
“Our own
research shows that almost 230,000 have fallen behind with rent
since March, meaning thousands could face homelessness when the
evictions ban lifts - despite promising that nobody would
lose their home due to
coronavirus.
“Government can
protect these renters, but with only a few sitting days left
before Parliament breaks for summer, it must act now. Some small
changes to the law would give judges the power they need to keep
thousands safe in their homes and prevent a wave of
Covid-evictions.”
ENDS
Notes to
Editors
· Data
is taken from the English Housing Survey 2018/2019 report on
housing costs and affordability.
· 1,166,955
private renters find it difficult to pay rent. This number and
percentage of private renters who found it difficult to pay rent
is available at MHCLG, English Housing Survey 2018
to 2019: housing costs and
affordability, Annex Table
4.1
· The
percentage of private renters who had no savings is available at
MHCLG, English Housing Survey 2018
to 2019: housing costs and
affordability, Annex Table
2.10
· The
proportion of household income spent on rent for private renting
households includes housing benefit and is available at
MHCLG, English Housing Survey 2018
to 2019: housing costs and
affordability, Annex Table
3.3
