Citizens Advice: 'Worrying' Jump In Number of People with Housing Problems

Citizens Advice said it had seen a 14% jump in housing problems as rising numbers of people faced homelessness or struggled to keep up with their rent. It said it had seen a bigger increase in the number of people contacting it for help with housing issues during the three months to the end of September, compared with the same period of 2009, than any other area.
The group reported a 22% rise in inquiries from people who were homeless or who were facing becoming homeless, while there was a 20% jump in the number of people struggling to get accommodation. On top of this it also saw a 19% increase in the number of people who needed help because they were in rent arrears to private landlords. Citizens Advice said most of the people who rented in the private sector who were struggling to keep up with their payments were on incomes of less than £1,000 a month, and were in low-paid work or had lost their jobs as a result of the recession. It warned that many people were already struggling to meet the shortfall between their housing benefit and their rent, and the Government's planned cuts to housing benefit could tip tens of thousands more people into rent arrears. Read more on 24dash.