As of January 2021, six million people were claiming Universal Credit, up from 2.6 million in February 2020. At the start of this year, Citizens Advice estimated from survey data that more than half a million private tenants across the UK were in arrears on their rent, owing an average of £700 each.
Private renters across the country have found themselves struggling to pay their rent during the pandemic as they’ve lost jobs or income,” Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said this week. “Many have applied for housing benefit in a bid to safeguard their home, only to find the support available doesn’t even come close to covering their costs.”
Neate said people faced “agonising decisions to go without food or get into masses of debt just to pay their rent”.
She added that the “only way to prevent even more people becoming homeless while the pandemic continues” was for the government to “urgently review” levels of housing benefit payable.
A DWP spokesperson said: “We’ve taken unprecedented action to protect renters during this pandemic, including banning evictions, as well as increasing Local Housing Allowance rates, benefiting more than one million households by £600 a year on average. We’ve also raised Universal Credit by £1,040 a year, and Discretionary Housing Payments are available for those who need additional support.”
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Chaminda Jayanetti | Radio Free (2021-02-26T08:57:11+00:00) Number of private tenants facing rent shortfall leaps by nearly 50% during COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/02/26/number-of-private-tenants-facing-rent-shortfall-leaps-by-nearly-50-during-covid-19-pandemic/
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