25th
Sep 2023
A charity states/claims that because the Renters Reform Bill is being continually delayed older tenants are finding this “incredibly concerning”.
The government fails to admit to any delay but still remains fully committed to the Bill with a Second Reading once parliamentary business allows it.
As is common knowledge rental activists have been continually calling for the government to get the Bill passed immediately, and now Generation Rent and such like are flooding social media saying that delays are caused by the Tory party’s political infighting over the Bill and its measures.
The activists are demanding the Bil must be made the number one priority ahead of anything else in the Commons.
John Palmer who is the grandly titled Director of Influencing and Engagement at the organisation of the charity Independent Age, says: “If the Renters Reform Bill has been delayed again this will be incredibly concerning to older private renters who desperately need change. We know that older renters are currently facing a housing emergency due to unaffordable rent rises, dangerous homes and anxiety around the threat of a no-fault eviction, so the Government must step up and do the right thing by bringing forward the bill in full as soon as possible.
“Our new report ‘Hidden Renters’ reveals the housing crisis facing older private renters and shows that this group are being put through an unimaginable level of anxiety due to the insecurity of their housing situation. Not only are more than one in six concerned that they could be asked to leave their home within the next year, but more than one in five feel uncomfortable raising concerns with their landlord, choosing to live in substandard homes for fear of eviction.?
“This power imbalance for those in later life cannot continue. Everyone deserves a safe, affordable and secure home. Being faced with eviction and the threat of homelessness in later life should be unimaginable, but it is the shocking reality for a growing number of older renters. The government must commit to bringing forward the Renters Reform Bill now.”
The charity claims private tenants in their ‘golden years’ are facing a ‘housing emergency’ because unaffordable rent increases are making it extremely difficult to deal with and nigh on impossible in many cases. According to Independent Age older tenants are three times more likely to be impoverished than homeowners.
From the charity’s report’s findings from “in-depth interviews of over 40 older private renters on a low income” and a poll of around 1,800 private tenants “in later life” that says older people are having to pay considerable increases in rent to remain in their rented homes; apparently many of the properties are not fit for purpose and in some cases highly dangerous.
The ’Hidden Renters’ report claims that 45 per cent of older private tenants who took part in the survey had a rent rise in the last twelve months - 57 per cent of the rises were between £50 and £200 per month, and 22 per cent of affected tenants were finding it extremely difficult to afford.
Independent Age is telling the government it must unfreeze Housing Benefit rates to cover the cheapest 30 per cent of the local PRS housing prices as well as scrapping Section 21 eviction powers. However another of its demands is for local councils to be given powers to “moderate and cap in-tenancy rent increases and give them more power and funding to enforce existing laws.”
News Archive »