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Ok Lockdown 2.0 - why is the welfare safety net not strong enough for private renters? 1. Housing benefit for private renters, or Local Housing Allowance (LHA), was restored in March – so it now covers the lowest third of private rents (30% or the 30th percentile) in each area...
2. This was good, necessary and welcome BUT it’s worth noting that when it was first introduced in 2008, the Local Housing Allowance covered 50 per cent of market rents. It was then lowered to 30 per cent before being reduced further and capped by George Osborne in 2015. So...
3. Given that rents have risen since then in many areas it's just not enough as I wrote here: https://inews.co.uk/opinion/housing-coronavirus-renting-rishi-sunak-418924
4. @Shelter say that the proportion of households claiming housing benefit is rising, with four in ten (39%) private renters now claiming housing benefit across the country.
5. Because rents are dictated by landlords, some of those will have no choice but to rent homes that LHA won’t cover...
6. For those who were already paying high rents but are now unable to work, unemployed or on a furloughed reduced wage LHA may not go far enough and they may fall into arrears...
7. But, even if LHA did go far enough, the benefit cap might kick in and stop some renters getting the help they need...
8. Add to all of that the fact that despite the fact that courts are supposed to take the financial impact of COVID-19 on renters in eviction cases...we know that illegal evictions are happening and that S21s are being issued anyway...as I wrote here https://inews.co.uk/opinion/illegal-evictions-union-bootcamps-how-covid-19-change-renting-738935
9. So, basically, if you're going to extend furlough until March and acknowledge that this crisis isn't going anywhere you have to shore up what, for too many people, is insecure housing by increasing support. I'm done.
10. Actually, not quite done. Landlords are worried about this too! We may not like the fact that so many ppl rely on a private landlord for housing but, they do and, right now, they are vulnerable as a result. Landlords, in turn, are concerned about their incomes.
