The UK housing crisis isn’t just about mortgages – private renters desperately need help too

Alex Diner wrote for the Guardian about the crisis facing low income private renters. 

“While the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has uprated other forms of social security with inflation, housing benefit for private renters – through a mechanism called local housing allowance (LHA) – remains frozen at 2020 levels. As a result, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that LHA covers only 5% of private rentals. Since April 2020, UK rents have increased by almost 10%, with tenants expected to bridge the difference. Those who can’t must find cheaper accommodation, which often means poor-quality housing; about 600,000 privately rented homes pose a serious and immediate risk to health and safety, with issues such as damp and mould.”