Renters Reform Bill will slash homelessness, claims charity

A charity claims the Renters Reform Bill, which gets its Second Reading in the Commons next week, will help reduce homelessness.

New figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show that 24,260 households were served a Section 21 notice over the last year, a 22 per cent increase on the previous year. 

A further 42,110 households needed help with homelessness because their landlord wanted to re-let or sell the property, a rise of 28 per cent. 

Crisis - which has made the claim about the Bill - also claimed these figures are the highest recorded since the Homelessness Reduction Act was introduced in 2018.

The charity says the ending of a private rented Assured Shorthold Tenancy is now the biggest driver of homelessness, accounting for 74,500 or 24.9 per cent of households seeking support. This is an increase of 27.3 per cent from last year.

It says the DLUHC figures show that 298,430 households received help from their council because they were homeless or threatened with homelessness - a seven per cent rise on the previous year, and a three per cent increase on pre-pandemic levels.  

There has also been a nine per cent increase in the number of households currently homeless who were in full or part time work.  

With an election on the horizon the national homelessness charity Crisis is urging the Westminster government and all political parties to commit to a plan to tackle homelessness.  

Crisis chief executive Matt Downie says: “Record numbers of households are facing homelessness from the private rented sector because of the Westminster government’s failure to get a grip on our crumbling housing market.  

“Through our services we see day in day out the emotional and financial toll that comes with having no secure roof over your head. With little to no affordable housing to go around we’re seeing thousands trapped in temporary accommodation like nightly paid B&Bs and hostels that costs billions and doesn’t provide people with a secure place to rebuild their life.  

“With an election looming it’s time for the government to face up to this mounting crisis and bring in the protections it promised renters in the Renters Reform Bill more than four years ago. Alongside this, we must see investment in housing benefit at the [November] Autumn Statement so we can stop people becoming homeless in the first place. But ultimately, we need a plan to build more social housing if we’re going to end homelessness once and for all.”