Industry News


Rents up 9% in record yearly rise R


ents in the UK rose by 9% in the 12 months to February - the highest annual increase since records began in 2015, with rises


recorded in all parts of the country. Renters in London saw their rents go up the most


at 10.6%, taking the average monthly rent in the capital to £2,035. Outside of the capital, Bristol was the most expensive place to rent privately - costing £1,734 a month. Average monthly rent increases across the UK


ranged from 8.8% in England through to 10.9% in Scotland and 9% in Wales according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Tis meant tenants in each country paid an extra £104, £93 or £60 a month respectively. Rent prices have gradually increased across the


UK since the ONS began collecting data for the whole of the UK in 2015, but have spiked since 2022. Meanwhile, average UK house prices fell by 0.6% in the year to January, though it marked a slower drop than the 2.2% annual fall recorded a month earlier. Research published by data-gathering


website Statista, suggested landlords were upping their prices due to the increased costs of running a rental property. But that was not the only reason. In a survey of almost 1,000 landlords, carried out towards the end of last year, more than half (59%) said they were trying to “align with local market rents”. Ben Beadle, of the National Residential


Landlords Association, blamed the “chronic shortage of properties to meet demand” for rents being hiked up. “Te chancellor needs to develop growth tax measures to ensure a healthy supply of


quality homes to rent,” he said, pointing to advice from leading economic research group the Institute for Fiscal Studies that the “more harshly landlords are taxed, the higher rents will be”. A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling


Up, Housing and Communities said it recognised “the cost-of-living pressures tenants are facing” and “our landmark Renters (Reform) Bill offers a new, fairer deal for tenants and landlords”. “Te most recent data shows the size of the


private rented sector has doubled since 2004, peaking in 2016 and has remained roughly stable since,” they added. Responding to the latest rent figures, housing charity Shelter’s chief executive Polly Neate said


private renting had “reached boiling point”. She added: “Decades of failure to build genuinely affordable social homes has made private renting the only option for many, and as a result, competition for overpriced and oſten shoddy rentals is fierce.” Ms Neate said this meant landlords were free


to “hike up the rent, safe in the knowledge that if their tenants can’t pay, they can issue a no-fault eviction with just two months’ notice and get a new tenant at a higher rent. To help struggling families keep hold of their homes, the Government must keep its promise to renters and pass a watertight Renters (Reform) Bill to ban no-fault evictions,” she added.


Rough sleeping soars while homeless children in temporary accommodation hits a record high


Rough sleeping has risen sharply by 27% while the number of homeless children forced to live in temporary accommodation has hit another record high, reflecting the crisis afflicting the housing market. Te latest snapshot figures on the number of


people sleeping rough in England in 2023 reveal that 3,898 people were recorded as sleeping rough on a given night, a 27% increase in one year. Te number of people sleeping rough in England has more than doubled since 2010 when the data started being collected – up 120%. What is worse, is that these annual figures are


likely to be an underestimate, as people who sleep in less visible locations can be missed. In 2019 the Government made a manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024, but these figures show it is failing on this promise and the situation is going


from bad to worse. Te latest statutory homelessness figures to be


released, show homelessness is at another high in England between July and September 2023, with 109,000 households recorded as homeless and in temporary accommodation – another record high figure and up 10% in a year. Tere are 142,490 children who are homeless


– another record and up 16,960 (14%) in a year. In total 78,460 households in England faced homelessness between July and September 2023. Shelter is calling for all political parties to


commit to ending the housing emergency by building 90,000 social homes a year with rents tied to local incomes. In a joint report, published by Shelter and the National Housing Federation (NHF) it is claiming that building 90,000 social homes would not only pay for itself in terms of


18 | HMMApril/May 2024 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


economic and social benefits within three years, but it would add over £50 billion to the economy in the long term. Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said:


“Te figures are further proof that the government cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the housing emergency. Far from ending rough sleeping, through its own ineffectiveness the government has allowed it to more than double on their watch, while the number of children homeless in temporary accommodation hits yet another shameful high. “We haven’t built enough social homes in


decades, and with rents at a record high, thousands of people are being forced to spend their nights freezing on street corners. Meanwhile families are being pushed into grim hostels and B&Bs miles away from their support networks and where children have to share beds. “Ignoring a crisis of this magnitude cannot


continue. Everyone at risk of street homelessness should be provided with suitable emergency accommodation. But the only lasting solution is for the government and all political parties to commit to build genuinely affordable and good quality social homes – we need 90,000 a year.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52