housing 3

The pandemic exacerbated existing problems and created new ones

The coronavirus pandemic has caused huge upheaval to our daily lives. Our health, work, education and social lives have all been affected in ways we would not have thought possible as we entered 2020.

People have been affected in different ways. If you’re young, a person of colour, in a precarious job or in private rented housing you are far more likely to have suffered financially as a result of the crisis.

 

How the pandemic has exposed the cracks in the private renting sector (PRS)

Financial shocks caused by the pandemic have exposed the unaffordability of renting, and left many in arrears. Renters feel on edge and insecure, fearing the consequences of a missed rent payment or flagging a problem. Tenants don’t want to rock the boat and risk being forced out of their homes, so they put up with enduring disrepair issues. 


Private renters needing advice in Wiltshire 

The number of people who have turned to Citizens Advice Wiltshire for advice about private rented property has more than doubled in the past year.1

Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 we helped 2,340 people with more than 5,000 housing problems. Problems with private rented property was the biggest housing issue people sought advice for. More than 1,000 people needed advice and support with almost 2,000 housing problems (1,984), with more than one in four of those people seeking advice about repairs and maintenance of their privately rented property.

These figures don’t include the 100+ people who’ve turned to us for advice because they have rent arrears with a private landlord.  

Housing issues 2020 21 compared with 2019 20


Similar issues faced by renters throughout in England

Financial vulnerability, high rents and income shocks have driven people into arrears

Three key issues facing rentersIt has been a difficult financial year for many, with renters being disproportionately impacted. Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) report that before the pandemic, around 35% of private renters worked in the hardest hit sectors (e.g. retail). And, between April and June 2020, 1 in 3 private renter workers were furloughed, losing 20% of their income.2 This, plus the high cost of renting has led to a surge in rental arrears.

Rent arrears building up

Recent research by Citizens Advice shows the scale of the problem. Around 1 in 3 renters lost income during the pandemic and half a million people in the private rented sector were behind on their rent in January. 

Many will be forced to leave their homes when the current protections for tenants in the private rented sector in England come to an end. Some will be forced to seek help from their local council, placing a huge burden on them at a time when budgets are tighter than ever.

Without further support for renters in England, in the form of grants or interest-free loans to help people repay their covid-related arrears similar to the scheme in Wales, we risk seeing a new wave of problem debt and homelessness.

No-fault evictions

While some renters will be forced to leave their homes as they’re no longer able to afford them, others will be asked to move out through no-fault of their own.

Recent polling commissioned by the Renters’ Reform Coalition indicated that one in 12 private renters had received a no-fault eviction notice, known as a Section 21, since March 2020.

Nearly a third (32 per cent) of the 1,008 people surveyed also said they were concerned about the possibility of their landlord asking them to move out this year.

The government pledged two years ago to end no-fault evictions and in December 2019 it committed to bring forward a Renters’ Reform Bill, but progress has stalled.

Poor quality and disrepair

Many renters are experiencing disrepair or maintenance issues in their homes. This includes dangerous hazards such as exposed wiring and leaking roofs. Often, tenants have long waits to get things fixed, and in some cases the issues are never resolved. During the pandemic, this has been even more difficult for tenants to cope with due to having to stay home.

Private renters are also reticent to raise issues, due to experiences of having rent increased after repairs, and the likelihood of retaliatory eviction.

The problems of quality in the private rented sector

Between January and February 2021 Citizens Advice were helping 1 renter every minute

In the recent report ‘One renter every minute: How the pandemic exacerbated existing problems and what that means for the Renters’ Reform Bill’4, based on two pieces of research, a Tenants Voice panel and a Coronavirus Harms survey, Citizens Advice makes three key recommendations:

  • End 'no-fault' evictions through Section 21, to protect renters from retaliatory eviction and increase their security
  • Improved tenancy security through open-ended tenancies, so renters aren't forced into fixed terms or exposed to rent hikes each year.
  • Better regulation and oversight to set consistent standards, providing more protection for tenants.

The problems we’ve seen this year aren’t new, and they aren’t going away. Insecurity, unaffordability and poor quality are not new issues within the private renting sector.

They are enduring problems that have huge detrimental impact on renters. The Renters’ Reform Bill is an opportunity to truly reform the sector. It’s a package of reforms planned by Government, that's intended to deliver a fairer and more effective rental market.

The Bill presents a once in a generation opportunity to create a secure, safe and functioning system for renters. We’ve seen this year how close to the wire financially many renters are, exacerbated by the unaffordability of the sector. Even with measures to reform tenancies and prevent no-fault evictions, the affordability of the sector needs to be looked at if we want to give tenants a secure and safe home.


Need advice?

For advice and information call freephone 0800 144 8848 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm),

or contact us for advice by email. 

Our face-to-face and drop in services remain temporarily closed, due to COVID-19 (coronavirus). More ways to get advice >


Published May 2021.

Notes

1. Citizens Advice management data

2. JRF, UK Poverty 2020/21 Report, Jan 2021

3. Citizens Advice, New Year Same Arrears, Jan 2021

4. Citizens Advice, One renter every minute: How the pandemic exacerbated existing problems and what that means for the Renters’ Reform Bill, March 2021

 

Citizens Advice Wiltshire

Latest service update - Spring 2024

We’re a local charity that gives advice over the phone, by email and on web chat, while reserving our face to face support for when it's most needed.

However, we are not running a drop-in service, so please call us, or email us first. This way we can work out how best to help.

Here’s how to get in touch...

Signage web

How can we help?

whatever the problem, we're here Get advice online

Get advice by phone

Call freephone 0808 278 7995
Lines are open 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday
Or email us

More from us

Campaigns

We use our clients' experience to campaign for positive change, locally and nationally. See our latest campaigns, read our research and find out about the impact of our advice.

Campaigns

Opening times and where to find us

Latest update on face to face services

Chippenham

Devizes

Salisbury

Trowbridge

Subscribe to our newsletter

For our latest news, events and services sign up to our email newsletter.

Volunteer with us

Our highly trained volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and help with everything we do. 

Could you join them? 

Volunteer opportunities

Have we helped?

When we promote our work to the people who need us and the people who fund us, we rely on being able to tell real-life success stories about the difference we’ve made to people’s lives.

Your stories

Contact us
Please use this form to contact us, or to get advice by email.

We aim to respond to your enquiry within 5 working days, however during busy times it may take a little longer. If you don’t get a reply in your inbox, please check your spam or junk folder.

To contact us for advice by phone, call: 0808 278 7995
(Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm. Closed on public holidays).

Or for more ways to get advice click here.

Fields marked with ( * ) are required.
1000 characters left
Your personal information

When you provide us with personal information, for example, when using this form to contact us, we take steps to ensure that your information is treated securely.

We need to record information about you to help with your enquiry. We have a legitimate interest to do this.

We keep what you tell us safe and confidential and you always decide what you share with us. You can read more about how we handle and store your data in our privacy policy (this will open in a new window, so that any information you have already added to this form will be kept in this window)

We need your explicit consent to keep some information, including your ethnicity, religion, health conditions, sexual orientation, and trade union membership.

If you agree, we’ll use this information, which is known as ‘special category personal data’ to:
● give you advice
● help us gather data to improve our service
● support our research in a way that you can’t be identified

For example, if you need advice about claiming certain benefits, you may want to tell us about health problems you have which may be relevant to your enquiry.

By ticking the boxes below you consent to Citizens Advice recording the special category personal data you choose to provide Citizens Advice.

We’ll make sure all your information is kept safe and secure.

Yes, I consent to you holding information on my (please tick all of those you agree to):
Can we contact you for feedback?

We want to make sure our service meets your needs. To help us understand how we’re doing and to improve our service, we may want to contact you at a later date to ask for your feedback. Sometimes we need a trusted research organisation to help us do that.

We’ll decide who we contact for feedback based on the services you used and the advice area. We may also use your special category data so that we hear from different groups.

If you agree to us getting in touch for feedback please let us know how you’d prefer to be contacted by ticking the boxes below.

I agree to Citizens Advice selecting me for feedback using my information and I give permission to be contacted for feedback by (please tick all that apply):