The campaigning charity Shelter says young adults are more in danger of homelessness than any other age group – and puts part of the blame on the private rental sector.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, says the government should extend the current Coronavirus eviction ban beyond June 29.

“Even at the best of times, young adults are more in danger of becoming homeless than other age groups as they’re more likely to be living in an unaffordable private rental or have an insecure job. And as the pandemic rages on, it’s proving even harder for many young people to keep up with their rent” Neate says in an interview with The Yorkshire Times.

“Our services have heard from younger renters who are scrambling to stay afloat after their income has taken a huge hit or they’ve lost their job because of Covid-19. While they rack up debts that could put their home at risk, the end of the government’s evictions ban looms ever nearer” she continues.

In April Shelter predicted that one in five tenants – some 1.7m renters – would lose their jobs during the Coronavirus crisis; the charity also claimed that even at that time a quarter of tenants had already seen their income drop or lost their jobs.

It claimed that another quarter of renters said they were living hand to mouth and that losing their job would mean they couldn’t pay their rent.

The Labour party has already called for an extension to the evictions ban.