Evidence

A housing system rife with discrimination and racism, unaffordable, unfit, unstable and insecure housing. Shelter commissioned research with 13000 people to reveal the extent of the housing emergency, and to make the case for desperately-needed social housing.

'Journeys in The Shadow Private Rented Sector' identifies how and why London has come to provide such a favourable environment for criminality in the PRS. This research makes the case for greater emphasis on detection, prosecution and penalties to constitute an adequate deterrent on the kinds of rental arrangement that evade routine survey data collection, trapping those renters with least power in dangerous and miserable conditions.

Uses the established consumer outcomes measures to assess the level of detriment and harm that renters receive in the private rented sector. The report proposes a data-driven approach to giving people
greater protection as 'consumers in the rental market' and recommends steps for Government to take, to better protect and empower renters.

Up to 45 per cent of the net cost of the government’s newly-extended Covid-19 furlough scheme will be spent on rent and debt repayments to landlords, banks and other lenders, amounting to an implicit bail-out of landlords and banks, according to this analysis from IPPR.
As a result, say the authors, landlords and lenders are effectively protected from the economic impact of the virus, while poorer households bear the brunt. They warn that if families emerge from the crisis less able to spend because their debts are higher, it will take longer for the economy to recover.
'Who Wins and Who Pays?' includes recommendations for short-term measures to ensure that banks, landlords and the well-off also take their share of the burden.

'Pretty Vacant’ reports on Action on Empty Homes’ year-long investigation into how wealth investment has contributed to the current housing crisis in London. The report concludes with a series of recommendations to help policymakers better understand and tackle the problems wrought by the financialisation of housing in the UK capital.

Proposals to strengthen the systems and protect all people now experiencing or at risk of poverty during the coronavirus pandemic. These include lifting the LHA cap to cover actual housing costs and guiding principles to provide protection from eviction.

Using data on rents and housing expenditure from the English Housing Survey, analysis from Shelter shows that, during 2017-18 there were 2.2 million households paying more than the affordable level of income to rent from private landlords. The value of the overspend totals very nearly £218 million each week; £11.4 billion annually.

Conversion of buildings to residential use without going through the full planning process has had disastrous consequences for London. Over half (59%) of London's Permitted Development homes are smaller than the nationally described minimum space standard and yet, of 15,929 new homes built through permitted development in London since 2013,
only 71 were defined as “affordable”.
'Slums of The Future - permitted development conversions in London' recommends scrapping permitted development.

As the gap between market rent and local housing allowance levels has widened, the number of London households in temporary accommodation has risen, reaching 56,560 households, including 88,500 children, in the final quarter of 2018. Without enough suitable property themselves, Councils struggle to procure decent temporary accommodation within their boroughs, spending more and more on expensive, nightly-paid, privately rented housing.
'Living in Limbo: London's Temporary Accommodation crisis' includes some proposals for solutions.

Across the United Kingdom as a whole, the number of families with dependent children living in private rental accommodation has increased by 94% in the past decade. As the monthly cost of renting is some 20 per cent higher than the cost of monthly mortgage repayments, 'The Parent Rent Trap' calls for a 'joined up' policy response.

In the 1970s, 33% of English households lived in council-owned housing. Now, that figure is just 17%. Much of the backlog of unmet need leaves people in inadequate PRS housing. This paper details the analytical work undertaken to quantify the number of social homes required.

The prevalence of poorly paid jobs and the absence of enough housing at reasonable rents mean that 225,657 private rented London households receive an average of £196.57 per week in housing benefits. This rises to £255.36 in Tower Hamlets. Housing benefit has been capped, though, while rents have not.
If employers don't respond with higher pay they will face staff shortages as workers are increasingly unable to access housing.
This report includes average rental prices for a 2 bedroom home in each of the 33 London boroughs.

'Vulnerability amongst Low-Income Households in the Private Rented Sector in England' uses robust evidence to prove that a large proportion of private renters are experiencing harm from over-crowding, poverty and poor conditions.
Landlords' failure to maintain property to the Decent Homes Standard is not markedly more common for tenants in the bottom third income group. Many families may still have no alternative to living in a non-Decent Homes Standard compliant property after income increases into the top two-thirds income group.

Growing numbers of older people are living in private rented accommodation. The experience is frequently characterised by serious concerns about conditions and security (or lack thereof) in retirement. This report highlights the many ways in which the PRS needs to deliver improvements for our ageing population.

Around 70% of children in poverty in London are in a working family. Housing costs push many Londoners into poverty and PRS rents are a significant contribution to the fact that the London poverty rate is the highest in England.

While the number of older people living in privately rented homes is growing, the plight of older renters has been largely overlooked. "Living In Fear" makes the case for urgent improvements to affordability, accessibility, stability and property conditions.

The number of tenants evicted by private landlords exceeds the number evicted by social landlords. Nearly two-thirds of ‘no fault’ evictions, under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, are in London. Tenants on low incomes are being evicted because benefits are insufficient to pay rents. Then, people are unable to afford alternative homes in the private rented sector, nor to access social housing.

Research into the impacts of 'right to rent' rules reveals that British citizens without passports, particularly those from ethnic minorities, are being discriminated against in the private rental housing market. Moreover, 51% of landlords surveyed said that the scheme would make them less likely to consider letting to foreign nationals.

The report focuses on the “financialization of housing” and its impact on our human right to adequate housing. The report concludes with a review of states’ policy responses to the financialization of housing, and recommendations for more coherent and effective strategies, to ensure that the actions of global financial institutions and actors are consistent with securing access to housing for all by 2030.

There is little sign that legislation requiring letting agents to be transparent about their fees and charges empowers tenants. Generation Rent, like Citizen's Advice Bureau, Shelter and Renters' Rights London, support a ban on tenant-side fees.

The new London Help to Buy scheme is supposed to help private renters in London escape private renting by giving them a 40 per cent equity loan to buy a home. Savill's analysis shows Londoners will still need a household income of more than £50,000 and a deposit of at least £10,000 in all London boroughs except one.

A study of private renters with legal problems found that few renters realised their housing difficulty was a legal problem: nearly half put it down to ‘bad luck’. Only 10 per cent sought formal advice: the rest tried to resolve their legal problems on their own.

Research by the National Housing Federation shows that private renters in the UK pay almost double the rent that European renters pay, relative to earnings

The number of households in England living in the private rented sector has doubled over the last ten years. The New Policy Institute assesses the physical state of private rental properties and calls for landlord licensing and other regulation.

Allowing landlords to artifically inflate rents has created a huge Housing Benefit bill. Civitas calls for indefinite tenancy lengths and rent increases pegged to inflation

Government figures show that the loss of a private tenancy accounts for nearly 4 in 10 cases of homelessness in London

A third of homes in the PRS fail to meet the Decent Homes Standard. Landlords should be more professional and local authorities given greater power

House prices in London are more than 14 times the mean average London salary, and private rents account for 53% of gross earnings. Unaffordable housing puts increasing pressure on the Housing Benefit bill: between 2008 and 2014 the number of working households in London needing housing benefit to cover their rent rose by 16.8%

Generation Rent predicts that by 2021, 104 MPs will represent constituencies where a majority of people are renters. 49 of these seats will be in London. This represents a huge increase in political power for a large section of the population that has long been neglected

This report examines the ’housing pinched’ - those who spend more than half of their disposable income on housing each month - and finds private renters are the most likely to be in this group

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is the maximum amount of housing benefit a person can get to pay their rent. When the LHA rates were lowered in April 2011, the government said it would bring down rents. But it didn’t: instead, private renters in London are suffering

A longitudinal study spent 19 months tracking the experiences of 128 people who had been rehoused in the PRS after being homeless. Every home surveyed had a repair problem and the majority of tenants encountered a problem with their landlord. Many also struggled to pay for energy and food after the cost of rent. Living in the PRS has a profound impact on wellbeing and security, so is particularly unsuitable for vulnerable people

Rising living costs are increasingly driving private renters into financial difficulty and debt. Private rents are now higher than mortgage costs, and have risen at a faster rate

Homes in the private rented sector are in worse conditions than homes of any other tenure, but renters do not report poor conditions for fear of retaliatory eviction. In a market where the demand for homes outstrips supply and the imbalance between landlords’ and renters’ market power has become entrenched, we urgently need regulatory intervention

In privately rented housing, safety and quality are falling. Local authorities should be given more power to tackle it

Little is known about the UK's private landlords, because they don't have to be on any register. This report uses the government's Wealth and Assets Survey to study the wealth and other characteristics of private landlords, who make up 2 per cent of the population.

39% of Londoners living below the poverty line after housing costs are private renters

This report finds low to middle income households increasingly have only one housing option: unaffordable private rent

Private renters pay high fees to letting agents but receive poor service. Agency fees should be charged to the landlord, not the tenant, and letting agents should be better regulated

Growing up in the PRS has a damaging impact on children’s lives, finds this report. With renting families being nine times more likely to move house than families who own a home, children often have to change schools, families struggle to pay the rent and homes are often in poor condition

Housing policy should ensure that everyone can live in a decent and affordable home regardless of tenure. Private renters need greater control of their tenancies so they are not at the mercy of their landlord

The housing crisis is at its worst in London. The IPPR explores the possibility of a London Rent Stabilisation Board with maximum base rents to keep rent increases in check