Housing data
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Mortgage holders and private renters are deep in the red
In 2019/20, around one-third of the mortgage holders we helped with debt advice were in a negative budget - where their income doesn't cover their essential costs.
In Jan 2024, 62% of mortgage holders were in a negative budget.
Meanwhile, nearly 60% of private renters are now in a negative budget, compared to 50% of people in social housing - as rising private rents drive people into the red.
Since June 2019, mortgage holders we’ve helped with debt have gone from being £77 in the black to £146 in the red in June 2024 after paying for their essentials.
Private renters have always struggled but now much more so, going from just about breaking even in January 2019 (£8 in the black) to £60 in the red in June 2024.
Use the filter below to see average surplus by housing tenure.
High and rising private rent and mortgage costs are driving people into the red
This chart shows the average housing costs of the people we help with debt advice by their housing tenure.
Gas and electricity, private rent and mortgage costs have all increased significantly in the last two years.
High housing and energy costs are driving the people we help into a negative budget.
Among the people we help with debt advice, private renters are spending 50% of their income on their housing and energy costs alone.
Meanwhile, social renters in a negative budget are spending 41% of their income on housing and energy costs.
The LHA freeze led to high shortfalls
In 2023/4, our debt clients renting privately and on Universal Credit had a monthly shortfall of £157 between their housing payments and their rent. This shortfall squeezes what they have left for other essentials.
You can see how this shortfall rose while the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) was frozen between 2020/1 and 2023/4.
After LHA was restored to the 30th percentile of market rents in April 2024, there was a fall in the shortfall - but it's still nearly as high as it was in 2022/3.
If LHA had not been uprated in April 2024, then the average shortfall in 2024/5 would have been £181.
Record levels of homelessness among private renters
After a welcome drop in demand in the early months of the pandemic as the Government banned evictions, we are now helping record numbers of people with a homelessness issue.
In January 2024, we helped a record number of people with a homelessness issue - the fourth time this record has been broken since June 2023.
Use the drop-down filter to look at the breakdown by different groups.
Rising private rents, the Local Housing Allowance freeze and the rise in Section 21 ('no fault') evictions have led to a steep rise in private renters needing help with homelessness since the pandemic.
Section 21 evictions
In 2023, we helped a record number of people with Section 21/'no fault' evictions.
Some groups are affected more by the rise in Section 21/'no fault' evictions, including single parents, women and racially minoritised groups.
You can read more about the unequal impact of the evictions crisis on racially minoritised groups in this blog.
Use the dropdown menu to explore the trends for different demographic groups.
This series of charts shows the number of people we're helping with Section 21 evictions issues per 100,000 of the population of each region in England and Wales.
This shows that Section 21 evictions are not just a problem affecting London and the South East. In February, we helped a record number of people in the North East, per 100,000 of the population, with a Section 21 issue.
You can use the drop-down menu to select an individual region.