Nearly one million private renters in England under threat of eviction, new research finds

Published

1 year ago

December 1, 2022

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Nearly a million private renters in England are under threat of eviction due to record high rents and soaring living costs, a leading housing charity has found.

Shelter’s poll, carried out by YouGov, found one in 12 private renters in England – equivalent to 941,000 people – are currently facing eviction.

Of those at risk of eviction, 504,000 private renters had received or been threatened with an eviction notice in the past month – up 80% on the same period last year.

And 482,000 of those are behind on their rent, which means they are in danger of losing their home, the research found.

Shelter has warned the government’s failure to unfreeze housing benefit in the autumn statement on 17 November displays a failure to acknowledge the growing rental crisis and said it will result in rising homelessness this winter.

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), which represents private landlords, also called on the government to “do more to support those most in need of help” including unfreezing housing benefit rates.

Shelter’s research found a quarter of private renters, equivalent to 2.8 million people, are constantly struggling to pay their rent – an increase of 24% compared with the same period last year.

And it found more than two thirds (69%) of private renters, equivalent to 7.7 million people, would struggle to find a suitable home this winter if they were evicted.

Chris Norris, policy director for the NRLA, said: “The vast majority of landlords want to help tenants stay in their homes wherever possible.

“It is simply absurd that support for housing costs is being linked to rents as they were three years ago, not as they are today.”

He also called on ministers to address the rental supply crisis as he said the recent tax increases have reduced the number of homes available yet demand remains strong so is driving rents up.

Mr Norris added that the NRLA is working with the government to ensure the system that replaces Section 21 repossessions – known as “no-fault evictions” – is “fair and workable for responsible landlords as well as tenants”.

The government said it is helping with the rising cost of living with the Energy Price Guarantee to help with energy bills this winter and payments of £1,200 to the most vulnerable.

A government spokesman said: “Councils have a duty to ensure families are not left without a roof over their heads, and we’re giving them £316m this year to help prevent evictions and provide temporary accommodation.

“Ensuring a fair deal for renters remains a priority for the government, that’s why we will deliver on our commitment to abolish Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions.”

During the pandemic, the Local Housing Allowance was increased beyond inflation at the time, with more than a million households getting an average of around £600 over the year. That has been kept by the government.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Every day our emergency helpline advisers are taking gut-wrenching calls – from the mum skipping meals to pay the rent to the family terrified they will be spending Christmas in a grotty homeless hostel.

“The government’s refusal to unfreeze housing benefit, when private rents are rising at record rates, means the rental crisis is fast becoming a homelessness emergency.

“At Shelter, we are doing all we can to help people keep the bailiffs at bay, but we’ve got our work cut out.

“Shelter’s frontline services are working seven days a week to help people weather the storm, but as more people turn to us, we need the public’s support more than ever this winter.”

UK

Rishi Sunak does not rule out July general election

Published

2 hours ago

April 27, 2024

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Rishi Sunak does not rule out July general election

Rishi Sunak has failed to rule out holding a general election in July, as speculation remains rife over the timing of the national vote.

The prime minister has repeatedly said his “working assumption” is the election would take place in the second half of this year – with the law stating January 2025 is the latest he could call it.

But while many commentators have predicted an autumn vote, Sky News’ Trevor Phillips put to Mr Sunak that it could mean as early as July.

Analysis: Sunak needs to learn voters aren’t always governed by the logic of the computer

“Well, look, when it comes to a general election, I’ve been very clear about that multiple times,” the prime minister said.

“And again, I’m not going to say anything more than I’ve already said, I’ve been very clear about that.”

In his interview – which will air in full on Sunday at 8.30am – Trevor Phillips pushed Mr Sunak five times over whether he would rule out a July general election, but the Conservative leader refused to confirm or deny if it could take place then.

“You’re going to try and draw whatever conclusion you want from what I say,” he said. “I’m going to always try and say the same thing. You should just listen to what I said, [the] same thing I’ve said all year.

“But the point is… there’s a choice when it comes to the general election. And look, over the past week or so… the country can have a very clear sense of what that difference is going to look like.”

Outlining his recent commitments to overhauling the welfare system, cutting taxes and increasing defence spending, as well as finally getting his Rwanda bill through parliament in an effort to tackle small boat crossings, Mr Sunak said: “That is the substance of what this government is about and what it’s going to do in the future.

“And when the election comes, there’ll be a clear choice, because the Labour Party has tried to frustrate our Rwanda bill, because they don’t believe in stopping the boats, their economic plan will put people’s taxes up.

“They haven’t said that they will invest more in our defence and they certainly don’t agree with reforming our welfare system to support people into work.”

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Labour has said it wants to match the hike in defence spending when the financial circumstances allow, and has promised to scrap the Rwanda bill if it gets into power.

This week, its pre-election focus has been on railways, promising to renationalise train operators and “sweep away” the current “broken” model if the party wins the next election.

Watch Rishi Sunak’s full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips at 8.30am

UK

Rishi Sunak says migrants going to Ireland shows Rwanda scheme is working as a deterrent

Published

7 hours ago

April 27, 2024

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Rishi Sunak says migrants going to Ireland shows Rwanda scheme is working as a deterrent

Migrants travelling to Ireland after arriving in the UK on small boats is a sign the Rwanda scheme is already working as a deterrent, Rishi Sunak has said.

Sky News’s Trevor Phillips asked the prime minister if migrants finding their way to Ireland was a sign the UK was “exporting the problem”.

Ireland’s deputy prime minister Micheal Martin said on Friday the threat of being deported to Rwanda had caused an influx of migrants to cross the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic.

In his interview – which will air in full on Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show tomorrow at 8.30am – Mr Sunak was asked about the comments, saying they illustrated “the deterrent is… already having an impact”.

“People are worried about coming here and that demonstrates exactly what I’m saying,” he said. “If people come to our country illegally, but know that they won’t be able to stay there, they are much less likely to come, and that’s why the Rwanda scheme is so important.”

Downing Street on Friday rebuffed claims the Rwanda plan was already influencing movements into Ireland, saying it was too early to jump to conclusions on its impact.

Mr Sunak said the comments also illustrate “that illegal migration is a global challenge”.

“[That] is why you’re seeing multiple countries talk about doing third country partnerships, looking at novel ways to solve this problem, and I believe will follow where the UK has led,” he said.

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Mr Martin told The Daily Telegraph that the policy was already affecting Ireland, as people were “fearful” of staying in the UK.

Ireland’s deputy prime minister said: “Maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.”

Mr Martin, who is also Ireland’s foreign minister, said asylum seekers were looking “to get sanctuary here and within the European Union as opposed to the potential of being deported to Rwanda”.

Danger for Sunak if new Act does not stop boats

Jon Craig

Chief political correspondent

@joncraig

On the Safety of Rwanda Bill, which finally became law this week after so-called “ping pong” between the Commons and the House of Lords, Mr Sunak said a deterrent was the only way to stop the boats.

“We did just have an important moment this week that in spite of all the opposition from the Labour Party we have passed the Rwanda bill through Parliament in the face of enormous opposition,” he told Sir Trevor.

“That’s important because the only way to fully solve this problem is to have a deterrent, so that if people come to a country illegally, they’re not able to stay, and we can return them.”

Refugee groups in Ireland admit that the threat of being deported to Rwanda is, as the Irish government claims, driving migrants across the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic.

Nick Henderson of the Irish Refugee Council told Sky News: “As long as there is a Rwanda policy and the Illegal Migration Act which states that somebody can’t lodge an application for asylum in the UK and have it considered if they enter in an irregular way, it’s going to have knock-on effects on Ireland, that’s plain to see.”

Now that the Rwanda legislation has finally become law, Tory MPs believe the PM can no longer blame his political opponents in parliament, in the Commons and the Lords, if it fails to stop the boats.

The danger for Mr Sunak, even his supporters concede, is that even if planes do take off for Rwanda this summer and some migrants head for Ireland, it may not stop the tide of more illegal migrants crossing the channel.

His comments came after Ireland’s justice minister told a committee of the Irish Parliament she estimates more than 80% of migrants in the Republic had crossed from Northern Ireland.

The UK’s prime minister told Trevor Phillips his focus “is on the United Kingdom and securing our border”.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill became an Act on Thursday, with Number 10 announcing the same day that the first deportation plane had been booked.

After a number of setbacks and delays, the bill passed in parliament earlier this week and then received royal assent, with Home Secretary James Cleverly hailing the approval as a “landmark moment in our plan to stop the boats”.

Anticipating the bill’s passage, the prime minister earlier this week promised the first flights would take off in 10 to 12 weeks – “come what may”.

Watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips at 8.30am

UK

Tory MP Dan Poulter defects to Labour over NHS ‘chaos’

Published

8 hours ago

April 27, 2024

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Tory MP Dan Poulter defects to Labour over NHS 'chaos'

Conservative MP and former health minister Dan Poulter has defected to Labour.

The MP for Suffolk Central and Ipswich North, with a majority of 23,321 at the last election, has indicated he is not planning to stand at the next general election.

The defection was revealed in an article on The Observer website, in which the part-time GP outlined why he was switching parties.

He said: “The chaos of today’s fragmented patchwork of community addiction services – making A&E the default location for people to get treatment and help – has added pressure to an already overstretched service.

“The mental toll of a service stretched close to breaking point is not confined to patients and their families. It also weighs heavily on my NHS colleagues who are unable to deliver the right care in a system that simply no longer works for our patients.

“It is this which has led me today to have resigned from the Conservative party to focus on my work as a doctor and to support Keir Starmer.”

He told The Observer the Conservatives had become “a nationalist party of the right” in the last eight years.

“It is not to say all [Tory] MPs are like that,” he said.

“There are good MPs, but it feels that the party is ever moving rightwards, ever presenting a more nationalist position.”

The mental health doctor sent his resignation to the prime minister Rishi Sunak, saying: “After deep reflection and much heart-searching, I have decided, in all professional conscience, that I can no longer continue as a member of the Conservative Party.”

The Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer celebrated his defection on social media.

“It’s fantastic to welcome Dr Dan Poulter MP to today’s changed Labour Party,” he said in a post on X.

“It’s time to end the Conservative chaos, turn the page, and get Britain’s future back. I’m really pleased that Dan has decided to join us on this journey.”

Sky’s Jon Craig called the defection a “disastrous blow for the Conservatives and a massive propaganda coup for Labour.”

“Dr Poulter’s defection means the Commons majority of 80, won by Boris Johnson in December 2019, is now just 41, roughly half what it was three-and-a-half years ago,” he added.

“But more than the terrible numbers, bad as they are, it is his threat to support Labour on the NHS in the run-up to the general election that will alarm the Conservatives.”

Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said in a tweet: “Proud to welcome Dr Dan Poulter MP to the @UKLabour Party.

“As a frontline clinician, he’s seen the damage that 14 years of Conservative government have done to our NHS.

“Delighted to have his support and look forward to working with him, especially on mental health reform.”

A Conservative Party spokesperson responded to the resignation by saying: “For the people of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich this will be disappointing news. What Dan says is wrong as Sir Keir Starmer has no plan for our NHS.

“Under the Conservatives we are raising NHS funding to a record £165 billion a year, helping it recover from the effects of the pandemic and driving forward its first ever long-term workforce plan so that we train the doctors and nurses we need for the future in our country.

“Thanks to our plan, we have already virtually eliminated the longest waits and overall waiting lists have fallen by 200,000 in the last five months – and we will go further to make sure everyone gets the world-class care they need.

“This stands in stark contrast to the Welsh NHS – run into the ground by the Welsh Labour Government over the last 25 years which has waiting lists and waiting times way beyond what is being delivered in England.”