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Renters in UK having to choose between paying rent and eating, poll suggests

Renters’ unions in the UK are calling on government to suspend rents for duration of coronavirus crisis

Researchers are suggesting that millions of renters in the UK are having to choose between either paying their landlords rent money, or putting food on the table, or have already been forced to leave their homes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A poll that was conducted last weekend, after rent payments were due for the first time for many renters since the lockdown measures were put in place across the country, affecting the incomes of many.

A lot of renters were either already in or close to being in financial distress, with 1 out of 6 people being forced to seek extra funding in order to stay afloat.

About 1 out of 5 households in the UK, which equates to 4.5 million families, live in private accommodation that they rent, with a similar number of people in social housing, according to the most recent figures.

Renters in UK having to choose between paying rent and eating, poll suggests
Around 20% of people in the UK live in rented accommodation

Opinium carried out research for the Guardian, that shows that 60% of renters in the UK have said that they had suffered financially as a result of the lockdown measures that were put in place three weeks ago.

Of those, 20% had been forced to choose between paying rent, or spensing that money on food and other bills. and 25% have said that they had already had to voluntarily vacate their homes and move in with their parents or other friends, or request an earlier end to their tenancy due to the crisis.

Kat Wright, national organiser for Acorn, which campaigns for tenants’ rights, has said this stored up problems for the future.

“We’re facing a huge surge in evictions once restrictions are lifted, and renters across the UK are already unable to pay their rent,” she said.

“Tenants need protection from evictions post-emergency and from rent debt accrued during the crisis.”

Almost half of these renters have said that they were worried about the stability of their housing situation, despite the increases that have been made to housing benefit and a temporary ban on evictions. “With these in force,” the government has promised, “no renter … will be forced out of their home.”

While homeowners, including buy-to-let landlords, are able to take advantage of government-mandated mortgage holidays, and advice for renters tells them they are liable for their rent throughout the crisis, despite their landlords getting these mortgage holidays.

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