Poor Households Renting Privately Doubled 2008 – 2013

In both the UK and the EU, in recent years the proportion of households renting privately has increased while the proportion of those in social housing has decreased. In 2008, around 1 in 7 (14.6%) households in the European Union was living in a social rented home but this decreased to around 1 in 9 (11%) in 2013. In the same period, there has been an increase in households renting privately, from around 12% to 19%. Crucially, the increase in private renters across the EU is highest among lower income households. Almost a third (30.1%) of all households below the poverty line in the EU is now renting privately, up from around 18% in 2008. In the UK the proportion of these income-poor households renting privately has almost doubled in the same period, from 1 in 10 households (11.4%) in 2008 to more than 2 in 10 households (21.8%) in 2013. Read more on the NHF website.