Over 1,200 social housing tenants were surveyed as part of the research which shows how tenants faced financial difficulties and a precarious labour market, leaving them struggling with rent arrears and other debts.
The survey was carried out by Sheffield Hallam University as part of the ‘Holding on to home: tenancy sustainment in social housing’ study, which is funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
The tenants of three social housing landlords were surveyed: East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Southern Housing and Stockport Homes, between April and June 2023 in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis.
The survey neighbourhoods were chosen because of their higher rates of rent arrears, larger numbers of Universal Credit/Housing Benefit tenants and, in one area, larger ethnic minority populations.
The key messages to emerge from the survey are:
- One in ten of the tenants surveyed said they had sold personal possessions to afford their rent.
- There may be a significant cohort of social housing tenants who are ‘at risk’ of rent arrears but are not known to be at risk by the landlord because they are paying their rent. These are tenants who may need advice or support to help them sustain their tenancy.
- 86% of tenants reported that the cost-of-living crisis was affecting their ability to ‘get-by’, financially.
- Almost a third of employed tenants were on casual, insecure or seasonal contracts, highlighting the fact that for those in low-paid or
- precarious work, paid employment does not necessarily protect against the deepest forms of poverty.
- Some aspects of the benefits system seemed to also undermine tenants' ability to pay rent. Those on Universal Credit were nearly twice as likely to be in rent arrears and were more likely to face other financial challenges such as running out of money before the end of the month, than tenants on housing benefit.
- In the report, researchers have expressed the need for more support for Universal Credit claimants, especially when they transition onto the benefit.
- Of all the tenants surveyed, 66 per cent said they had no savings and 43 per cent said their household income did not last until their next salary or benefit payment.
- Neighbourhoods included in the survey were areas with higher arrears and larger universal credit or housing benefit populations.
Professor Paul Hickman, who leads the study with Dr Kesia Reeve, said: “There is a need to rethink how we understand and measure tenancy sustainment. In its simplest form, tenancy sustainment is concerned with supporting a tenancy so that it does not come to a premature end. However, if tenants are only managing to sustain their tenancies by employing coping strategies, selling possessions, incurring debt or not eating to pay their rent, and are living in cold homes because they cannot afford the heating, can we really say that is a ‘sustained tenancy’?”
The research team is based at Sheffield Hallam University. For more information about the ‘Holding on to home’ study, please see: https://holdingontohome.org/
