Chancellor needs to act now to avoid renters being scarred by debts they have no hope of clearing

Organisations working in the private rented sector warn of rent debt crisis with at least half a million tenants in arrears due to the economic impact of Covid-19

The Chancellor of the Exchequer needs to act now to avoid renters being scarred by debts they have no hope of clearing, a group of organisations working in the private rented sector has warned.

With at least half a million tenants in arrears due to the economic impact of Covid-19, the organisations - that include the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Big Issue, Crisis, Citizens Advice, the Money Advice Trust, StepChange and Shelter - highlight that the government’s own research shows that private renters report being hardest hit by the pandemic.

However, while welcoming many of the measures taken to date to help to sustain tenancies in the short-term, the organisations warn that renters and landlords cannot keep tenancies going without additional financial support, and that the longer the Chancellor waits to take action, the more rent debts will increase and the greater the risk of homelessness will become.

As result, ahead of the Budget on 3 March 2021, the organisations call for -

• a targeted financial package to help renters pay off arrears built since lockdown measures started in March 2020, helping to sustain existing tenancies and keep renters in their homes while also ensuring rental debt does not risk them finding homes in the future; and
• a welfare system that provides renters with the security of knowing that they can afford their homes.

Highlighting that it cannot be right that measures such as increases in universal credit and housing benefit could be 'pulled away' from renters during a time of continued economic uncertainty, the organisations say -

'... the pandemic has shown how vital this is to providing security at a time of crisis ... we urge the Chancellor to act now to avoid renters being scarred by debts they have no hope of clearing and a wave of people having to leave their homes in the weeks and months to come.'

For more information, see Chancellor must act to tackle rent debt crisis from jrf.org.uk