One in eight tenants struggling with payments

A survey of tenants suggests around one in eight private sector tenants have fallen behind with housing costs since the coronavirus crisis began. 

The research by the Resolution Foundation, based on a YouGov survey of around 6,000 adults in the UK, shows that renters tended to be in a weaker financial position going into the crisis. 

The think tank believes that those who own their homes are in a better position in comparison, with one in 12 mortgaged home owners falling behind with housing costs over the past couple of months. 

Lindsay Judge, principal policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: “They [renters] spent considerably more of their income on housing costs in the first place. 

“It's also fair to say home owners have been more successful at directly reducing their housing costs, so we've seen many more home owners issued a mortgage holiday than renters are being given reductions in rent."

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has warned there is a looming crisis in the PRS, with thousands of tenants unable to pay their rent having lost their jobs or seen a significant loss of income.

The committee's chair, Labour MP Clive Betts, told the BBC the UK was currently in “the lull before the storm”.

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