Half of working renters only ONE pay cheque away from losing their home

New research has revealed that one in two working private renters in England would be unable to pay their rent for a month if they lost their job.

The research from Shelter also stated that 2.2 million renters would be immediately unable to pay their rent from savings if they lost their job. The charity said it is some of the worst figures it recorded since before the pandemic, with the number of renters being one pay cheque away from losing their home going up by almost a third (31 per cent) in two years.

Meanwhile, official government data shows private rent prices are at a record high while Shelter's latest YouGov poll showed 55 per cent of private renters saw their rent go up in the last years.

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Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter, said: “Private renters up and down the country are facing a crisis like never before. Decades of failure from government to build enough social housing means that the pressure on oversubscribed private renting is worse than ever.

“The severe lack of social homes means swathes of people are barely scraping by as they’re forced to compete for grossly expensive private rentals, because there is nothing else. With food and household bills continuing to surge, the situation is precarious for thousands of renters who are one paycheque away from losing their home, and the spectre of homelessness.

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“The time for piecemeal policies is over. To jam the brakes on the housing emergency we need a genuinely affordable alternative to private renting. We know social housing works for most people because it’s secure and the rents