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Decline in living standards for social housing tenants, survey finds
A third of social housing tenants have seen their standard of living decline in recent years as above-inflation increases have hit food, fuel and transport, a report by the Human City Institute (HCI) has concluded.
The thinktank surveyed 6,500 social housing tenants across England and nearly a third (31%) said their standard of living had worsened in the past two years. Meanwhile 49% said there had been no change and 20% reported improvement.
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The HCI report said: “Social tenants are especially subject to financial exclusion, reliance upon low incomes, welfare benefits and high-cost lenders, and have seen their standard of living decline appreciably in recent years. This is linked to the large proportions of their income spent on food, fuel and transport, which have seen above-inflation increases.”
The majority of tenants surveyed were on low incomes, with the net median income at £9,000 a year and two-fifths coping on less than £8,000. Only 24% are employed full time but 35% of these people are in short-term work or on zero-hour contracts.
More than a third (34%) of tenants said their financial circumstances were “poor or very poor”. Only 4% described them as “very good”.
The majority of tenants (69%) have no savings, HCI found.
The thinktank also said rising rents in the private sector and “so-called” affordable rents in the housing association sector are becoming less affordable, with the average rent in the private sector at 43% of average earnings and 30% for affordable rents.
