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MILLIONS of households in Britain are worried that they will not be able to pay their rent over the winter, research revealed today.
About 2.5 million households fear falling behind with rent amid the coronavirus pandemic, with 700,000 households already in arrears and 350,000 at risk of eviction, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said.
A survey by the charity found that many households in England and Wales are building up “unmanageable amounts” of unpaid rent.
About 1.3 million households in private housing (30 per cent) and 1.2 million households in social housing (27 per cent) are concerned about being unable to afford their rent over the next three months.
As many as 350,000 tenant households have had a landlord discuss eviction with them, equating to 4 per cent of all renters.
A total of 10,719 adults, of whom 2,989 were tenants, were surveyed between October 20 and 27.
JRF director Helen Bernard warned that without immediate targeted support there could be a “wave of evictions” of renters whose incomes have fallen.
The foundation has urged the government to reinstate a watertight eviction ban to prevent a “surge of homelessness” this winter.
Shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire said that the estimated 700,000 households in rent arrears was more than the total number in Birmingham and Sheffield combined, adding: “These numbers should shock government ministers into action.”
Coinciding with the JRF survey, the Local Government Association (LGA) published a report urging the government to launch a “post-coronavirus boom in social housing” to tackle long council-housing waiting lists.
The association’s report says that if the government built 100,000 new social-housing units each year it would help cut the huge waiting lists and deliver a £14.5 billion boost to the economy.
It warns that rough sleeping and “hidden homelessness” will become more common when coronavirus-related job support schemes wind down and unemployment rises in the coming months.
LGA housing spokesperson Cllr David Renard said the construction of more council homes was “absolutely vital.”
The association is urging the government to use its forthcoming 2021-22 Spending Review to introduce measures that allow councils to “resume their historic role as major builders of affordable homes.”
The measures should include a reform of the right to buy that so that councils keep all of the money raised from selling homes under the scheme and receive powers to set discount levels locally.
