Private renting adds £8,000 a year to minimum living costs for families, research finds
A lone parent with two children now needs £67,600 a year when renting privately, compared with £59,800 in social housing.
Families need an extra £8,000 a year to reach a minimum acceptable standard of living when private renting, according to research from the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough University.
Its Minimum Income Standard (MIS) report noted that private renting had become the only realistic option for more households because of limited access to social housing.
A lone parent with two children now needs £67,600 a year when renting privately, compared with £59,800 in social housing.
A couple with two children need a combined income of £77,400, compared with £73,600 in social housing.
A single pensioner needs £21,300 when renting privately, compared with £15,900 in social housing.
Dr Chloe Blackwell, from CRSP, said: “While a renewed commitment to improving living standards in the UK, signalled by Prime Minister Andy Burham, is good news for low-income households, tackling the high and rising cost of housing needs to be at the forefront of any plans to reduce the cost of living.
“Private renting has become the only real option for more and more people in the UK, with many households facing crippling costs just to keep a roof over their heads.
“If this continues, we can expect to see the gap between incomes and needs widen further, leaving even more households far short of reaching a decent standard of living.”
Blackwell added: “Housing pressures have deeply affected people’s everyday experiences, and the public no longer see access to social housing as a realistic assumption.
“When the cost of securing a home absorbs such a large share of a household’s income, finding the money to cover everything else is much harder.
“Improving living standards requires more than increasing incomes alone.”
She said: “Without addressing the affordability and availability of housing, many households will continue to find that gains from higher wages or benefits are quickly outweighed by rising housing costs.”
Professor Matt Padley, co-director of CRSP, said: “Our latest MIS research highlights the consequences of political decisions and inaction over a long period, which mean that we simply do not have the social housing we need to ensure that all households have a safe, secure and affordable place to live.
“No one would dispute that adequate, accessible housing is fundamental to a decent standard of living, but years of under investment have undermined this key pillar of our welfare state.
“It’s crucial that the government acts quickly to, literally, rebuild this key part of the safety-net”
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), which funded the work, said the findings showed people were questioning whether they could rely on services including social housing and the NHS.
Darren Baxter, housing lead at JRF, said: “We are no longer living in a world where privately rented homes are a temporary pit stop for young, single professionals.
“They’re now the homes where families are bringing up their children, from babies to teenagers, as well as where people are growing old.
“But the eye-watering rents that people are paying are denying them the stable foundation they need for a good life.”
Baxter added: “Families can’t wait the decades it will take for the new homes currently being built to have an impact on their rents – their children will be adults by then. But unaffordable private rents aren’t a given.
“Rent controls would be the solution that would give families security and stability and they should be implemented without delay.”
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