There’s no doubt that private renters are being hit hard by the housing emergency. With rents on the rise and the prospect of eviction hanging over our heads, it’s no surprise there’s an appetite for something to be done. Are rent controls the answer? What do renters themselves think?
A new study by the Fabian Society gives an insight into what renters think about when we talk about controlling rents – and it isn’t necessarily what you’d think.
The study, … Read more
Yesterday, we published a report on how the people who use our services have been impacted by Universal Credit (UC). This highlights the issues the introduction of UC has caused, drawing on the voices and experiences of people affected, as well as in depth analysis of the data they have provided. Our findings have helped inform our key recommendations for moving forwards, so if the newly re-appointed Secretary of State for Department for Work and Pensions, Amber Rudd, needs some … Read more
The consequences of the broken housing safety net are laid bare in our new report, From the Frontline. This shines a light on the thousands of people we help every year who are being pushed to the point of crisis due to the continued impact of welfare reform and the introduction of Universal Credit (UC).
The freeze to Local Housing Allowance (LHA), which is housing benefit for those renting privately, is forcing people to make the impossible choice between … Read more
August 2018 marked the launch of our DSS discrimination campaign. It’s an issue we were repeatedly seeing highlighted as one of the most consistent and pernicious problems our clients were encountering.
Our advisers spend hours every week desperately searching for properties within our clients’ price-range, only to then have the options reduced further or eliminated completely by ‘no DSS’ policies. Seeing this clause on adverts for privately rented properties means that if you receive some or all of your income … Read more
Here at Shelter, we often hear from landlords who are making a positive difference in their tenants’ lives and playing a part in addressing the housing emergency. We wanted to celebrate these great landlords, who show that owning houses is about more than making profits – it’s about providing homes.
Alison’s storyI became a landlord at the age of 36 when I met my partner and together we bought a two-bed house in south London without selling the flat … Read more
In a hopeful day for London’s renters, the Mayor has shared his vision for private renting.
For too long, renters in the capital and across the country have been denied the security they need in the place they call home. With insecure tenancies and spiralling costs, people who rent are at the mercy of their landlord. Too often they are unable to put down roots in the place they live.
But now Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s London Blueprint lays … Read more
The Mayor of London’s review of rent control has concluded with a call for new powers to cut rents in the capital.
In this post we explain why we support new powers to give tenants predictable rents, and how we hope to work with the Mayor to get rent control right for those struggling at the bottom of the housing market.
The Greater London Assembly (GLA) is also announcing details of its London Model proposal for how to implement the … Read more
Kyrstyna and her husband, Geoff, had been homeowners. But when they lost their jobs due to redundancy, they were forced to go back to renting privately in their 50s.
Finding somewhere to rent was tough. Like many people receiving housing benefit, Krystyna and Geoff faced DSS discrimination and struggled to find a place to live. In the end, they were forced to move all the way from the West Midlands to Cornwall just to find somewhere that would accept them … Read more
New research by Shelter shows that Scottish renters have been reaping the benefits of open-ended tenancies since the introduction of the Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) in December 2017.
These new tenancies are helping renters worry less about becoming homeless, worry less about getting locked into inflexible fixed term tenancies, and giving them more faith in politicians.
With the prospect of open-ended tenancies on the horizon for English renters, the early signs from Scotland show that they too stand to benefit from greater security of tenure.
Scottish… Read more
Funded by the Big Lottery’s Help Through Crisis scheme and in partnership with Birmingham Mind, our WELLcome Home services provide outcome-focused support to individuals and their families. The aim is to help them reconnect to their accommodation and community after a stay as an inpatient.
We’re fast approaching the service’s fourth year, so it feels like an appropriate time to share another success story.
Imagine not being able to take your baby home from hospital because you have nowhere to … Read more
Among a growing number of organisations campaigning for the rights of private renters is London Renters Union (LRU), a union for people who rent privately, and who work to support members from across the capital.
Like Shelter, LRU come across cases of DSS discrimination every day. In the guest blog written by one of their members, you’ll find just one story of how they helped a member facing this prejudice.
You can join the campaign to tackle this issue across … Read more
15 April was a cause for big celebration. Renters won an important campaign which will change the way all private tenants are treated in our country. In case you missed it, the government announced plans to scrap Section 21, effectively fixing renting in the private sector by bringing an end to no-fault evictions. It’s a move that could finally give tenants the right to stay in their homes.
If made into law, this will improve renting for every one of … Read more