One in two working private renters in England – 3.2 million adults – wouldn’t have enough in savings to pay their rent for more than a month if they lost their job, new research by Shelter reveals.
And shockingly, 2.2 million renters would be immediately unable to pay their rent from their savings if they lost their job.
With tenants’ savings all but drying up, these are some of the worst figures the charity has recorded since before the pandemic.
In fact, the number of renters who are one paycheque away from losing their home is up by almost a third in just two years.
Official government data shows private rents are at a record high, and according to Shelter’s latest YouGov poll 55% of private renters have had their rent put up in the last year – putting immense strain on people’s finances. 2.1 million tenants (37%) are now struggling or behind with their rent due to the increase in payments.
Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter, said: “Private renters up and down the country are facing a crisis like never before. Decades of failure from government to build enough social housing means that the pressure on oversubscribed private renting is worse than ever.
“The severe lack of social homes means swathes of people are barely scraping by as they’re forced to compete for grossly expensive private rentals, because there is nothing else. With food and household bills continuing to surge, the situation is precarious for thousands of renters who are one paycheque away from losing their home, and the spectre of homelessness.
“The time for piecemeal policies is over. To jam the brakes on the housing emergency we need a genuinely affordable alternative to private renting. We know social housing works for most people because it’s secure and the rents are tied to local incomes. Instead of empty words,the government and every political party must sign up to building thousands more social homes.”
