Industry News
The properties and people in the rental sectors in numbers
O
ver a third of all households in England rent their homes from landlords, but tenants and their homes in the private
and social housing sectors vary hugely in their characteristics, as revealed in the English Housing Survey. Te latest EHS report tells us the private rented
sector has increased significantly in the past 20 years and is now home to just over 4.4 million households, nearly one fiſth of all households in England. In the social housing sector, housing
association tenants make up 2.4 million households, while local authority tenants account for 1.6 million households. Councils are continuing to lose stock through right to buy sales and transfers to associations at a quicker rate than they can build replacements. A greater proportion of more vulnerable groups
live in the social housing sector compared to other tenures. Tis is likely due to social housing being allocated based on resident needs. More than one quarter of social renters are
aged 65 or over. Social renters on average are older (53 years on average) than private renters (41 years on average) and younger than owners (57 years on average). Lone parent households with dependent children
make up a higher proportion of the social rented sector than other tenures (18 per cent, compared to three per cent of owner occupied households and 11 per cent of private rented households).
HOUSEHOLD FINANCES Social renters are less likely to have savings than private renters and owner occupiers. In 2020/21, 69 per cent of social renters had no
savings, compared to 19 per cent of owner occupiers and 45 per cent of private renters. Social rented households with dependent
children are least likely to have savings, with 85 per cent of lone parent households with dependent children and 87 per cent of couples with dependent children having no savings. Average rent before housing support for all
social renters is £102 a week, lower than for private renters. In 2020/21, 15 per cent of social renters were in arrears either currently or within the last year. Rent costs £198 per week on average for
private renters, significantly higher than rents for social renters. Housing association tenants pay higher rent on
average than local authority tenants (£107 per week compared to £94 per week). On average, private renters spend 31 per cent of
their income on their rent. Private renters in receipt of housing support spend around 40 per cent of their income on rent. Both these figures are higher than for mortgagors (18 per cent) and for social
(26 per cent), and the work being of poor quality (17 per cent). Social rented homes are more energy efficient
than homes in the private sector. Tis is likely due to there being a higher proportion of flats (which have less exposed surface area and are therefore more efficient than houses or bungalows) and have better insulation. In 2020, the social rented sector had the highest
proportion of dwellings already at EER band C or above (65 per cent, compared to 41 in the private rented and 42 in the owner occupied sector). Social rented homes are typically less likely to be
poor quality, have a smaller proportion of serious safety hazards, and cost less to bring up to standard than homes in the private sector.
On average, private renters spend 31 per cent of their income on their rent
renters (27 per cent). In 2020/21, 55 per cent of social rented households had at least one household member with a long-term illness or disability (2.2 million households). Tis contrasts with 28 per cent of owner occupied households, and 29 per cent of private rented households.
SATISFACTION RATES Te vast majority of private renters are satisfied with their current accommodation (80 per cent) and tenure (63 per cent), although this is still lower than the satisfaction rates among owner occupiers, (94 and 98 per cent). Approximately 772,000 private rented
households, or 17 per cent of all private renters, had considered making a complaint to their landlord or letting agency. Overall, more than three quarters (77 per cent) did make a complaint to their landlord or letting agency. Te most common reasons for not making a
complaint were concern over retaliation by the landlord (15 per cent), concern that tenancies wouldn’t be renewed (14 per cent) and the time and hassle it takes to complain (13 per cent). In the last 12 months, 32 per cent of social
renters had considered making a complaint. Compared to private renters, social renters are twice as likely to consider complaining. Older renters were less likely to consider complaining than younger renters. Satisfaction with repairs and maintenance is
lower among social renters (66 per cent) than private renters (75 per cent). Te most common reasons for dissatisfaction with repairs and maintenance among social renters are the landlord being slow to complete repairs (29 per cent), the landlord not bothering to do the repairs
PROPERTY CONDITIONS Compared to other tenures, social rented stock has the smallest proportion of occupied non-decent homes, at 11 per cent. Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of occupied private rented homes (approx 970,000 properties) and 14 per cent of occupied owner occupied homes were non-decent in 2020. In 2020, 5 per cent of social rented homes had a
problem with damp, at 198,000 households. Tis is a higher proportion than owner occupied homes (2 per cent or 335,000 households), but much lower than the number of private rented homes (10 per cent or 409,000 households) with damp. 13 per cent of private rented dwellings had a
Category 1 hazard, compared to 9 per cent in the owner occupied sector and 5 per cent in the social rented sector. On average, it costs £5,457 to bring a non-
decent social rented home up to the Decent Homes Standard. Tis is lower than costs to improve owner occupied homes (£7,852) and private rented homes (£8,475). Improving local authority homes costs more than housing association homes (£6,030 compared to £4,985). On average, private renters had lived in their
current accommodation for just over 4 years – this was a shorter period of time than for owner occupiers (16 years) and social renters (10.8 years). In terms of time spent in the sector, nearly three fiſths had been in the PRS for more than 4 years. Nearly three quarters of private renters said their
last tenancy ended because they wanted to move. Fewer than a tenth said their landlord or agent asked them to leave. Te majority (73 per cent) of private renters leſt
their last tenancy because they wanted to move, and 10 per cent said their tenancy ended because it was only for a fixed period. Fewer than one tenth (6 per cent) said they leſt their last tenancy because their landlord or agent asked them to leave. Of those who were evicted, the main reason
was because the landlord wanted to use or sell the property (63 per cent).
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMMAugust/September 2022 | 5
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