The UK Must Freeze Private Rents Now – Or Thousands Will Be Made Homeless

In March, the government announced a three-month suspension of evictions and a marginal restoration of housing benefit to 2015 levels. The suspension is scheduled to end in mid-June, and has not been extended, leaving renters fearing for the future. With their median weekly household earnings already £161 lower than mortgage holders’, private renters’ housing costs on average eat up around a third of total household income. And this is before the effects of the recession. Recent analysis from the New Economics Foundation found that a minimum-wage worker who loses their job and has to rely on universal credit will have their income cut by 45%. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/12/uk-freeze-private-rents-homelessness-coronavirus-labour