Welfare Reform ‘Will Hit Private Renters Hardest’

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health will send out a warning about the perils of poor housing at their annual conference.  They say that tenants in the private rented sector are suffering mental health problems, child poverty and rising debts.  Dr Stephen Battersby, of the  Pro-Housing Alliance, said: “Deep-seated problems with this country’s housing stock, including lack of supply of genuinely affordable housing, are well known, but the Government’s latest welfare reforms combined with a cut in funding for local authorities is allowing third world-like conditions to develop for many thousands of vulnerable people.”  The Government has conceded that tenants in private accommodation are often worse off than those who rent from a council or a housing association. The so-called “bedroom tax” is designed to iron out these differences.  Read more on the Independent website.

Welfare Reform Hits Private Renters Hardest

An exodus of benefit recipients from high to low cost neighbourhoods is a widely predicted side effect of the government's controversial welfare ceiling of £26,000.  Much less has been said about those who decide to stay put and struggle on. A report published by the Pro-Housing Alliance casts new light on the effect of diminished welfare support on a group officially accepted as the hardest hit by the cap: the 1.4 million private renters. Private rented properties are already characterised by poor, cramped conditions, and barely affordable rents, the study Poor Homes, Poor Health, claims. "Many homes in the private rented sector are not decent," it says, pointing to official figures that show 1.36m privately rented properties are poor quality. Overcrowding rate is 5%, more than all other sectors, including council housing or owner occupation. Download a copy of the report from the Pro-Housing Alliance website.

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