The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report ‘The cost of housing for low-income renters’ has revealed that tenants on low incomes in the bottom fifth spend on average more than a third of their remaining income on rent not covered by housing benefit.
Those in the top fifth spend on average 19% on rental costs.
The proportion of the population of Great Britain who live in rented accommodation has risen to 35%, up from 29% in the mid-1990s.
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In response to these findings, Brian Robson, acting head of policy and research at the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation, has called on the government to uprate housing benefit in line with local rents in the Autumn Budget.
“Even with housing benefit, people on the lowest incomes are still seeing more than a third of their remaining income eaten up by their housing costs.
“It shows why the government needs to lift the freeze on working-age benefits and tax credits so incomes keep up with the rising cost of essentials.
“Building more affordable homes will help fix the root cause of our broken housing market, but it’s clear families who are just about managing need help now.
“Uprating the local housing allowance in line with local rents would help the 4.7 million people living in the private rented sector who experience poverty after paying housing costs.”
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