A new report says that 10,000 more working families every month are now drawing housing benefit to help pay their private rent.
Home Truths 2012, from the National Housing Federation, labels today’s housing market as unsustainable, and says that nowhere near enough new homes are being built, stifling supply and putting up prices.
It says that 86% more in-work people are claiming housing benefit today than three years ago. There are now more than 900,000 in-work claimants.
David Orr, chief executive of the NHF, said: “We now have millions of families struggling to keep on top of their rents, priced out of the housing market, and nearly 10,000 more working families every month are now reliant on housing benefit to help pay their private rent.
“These people are the ‘strivers’ the Government wants to help, yet their future is looking bleak.”
The report found that the cost of renting privately has gone up 37% in the last five years and predicts it will rise a further 35% over the next six years. It warns that private rents are increasing faster than house prices, with the knock-on cost to the taxpayer rising as a result.
Orr said: “The housing market is at the point of no return, with rising house prices, rising rents and millions of families really struggling to afford their home.
“It’s no surprise that one in 12 families in England is on the waiting list for social housing. Sadly, the future is looking even bleaker.
“Successive governments have failed to tackle the under-supply of housing and time is now running out. If we don’t urgently fix the housing market we will have a generation who are priced out of renting a home, let alone buying one.”
The National Housing Federation called on the Government and the whole housing industry to take a long-term joined-up approach to tackle the market difficulties.
Housing minister Mark Prisk, speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, said successive Governments had failed to build enough homes. He said: “We are not complacent about the challenge.”
Comments
Please, someone in government and someone in journalism, go away and read some history books and period novels. Mass market housing has always been, shall we say, "Not so good" as houses owned by the ruling classes. If we want to change this then we have to go on funding mass market rents unless something has changed to allow us to deviate from the historical norm. This decision falls to the people who are elected to government.
I am retired now but I can remember people of my grandparents' generation saying that paying your rent was the most important thing that you ever had to do. This memory must go back to around 150 years ago.
Can someone tell me how starting paying a family housing benefit means that we must build more houses? Paying housing benefit does not automatically increase the population. House builders only build when there is need to satisfy a population increase or replace old stock. If they build more houses because people are claiming housing benefit we will just end up with empty houses. Landlords will not buy these houses if they can not find tenants. Tenants, usually by definition, can not afford a house purchase so they stay as tenants and also will not buy these empty houses.
RLA deem these folk to be Nay do wells who can't be trusted to pay their rent yet the government think they are Strivers.
Ironic too that in this story rent is compound rising by 6.4% per annum, 3.6 % higher than RPI and in the other story Prisk is claiming rents have fallen compared with RPI.
Two stories, 1 government which one is telling an obvious mis-truth?