One in five Northerners worried about paying rent

One in five Northerners admit they are worried that they will not be able to afford their rent or mortgage in the future, according to a new survey.

The survey conducted by Savanta ComRes for a new IPPR report also found that 15% of northerners said that they have been unable to save most weeks since the UK entered lockdown.

Around one in 10 (11%) said they have had to cut back spending on essentials in order to pay the rent or mortgage, and 7% said they had run out of money a week or more before the end of the month.

The IPPR report warns that even before the pandemic, 5m people across the UK were facing housing affordability problems.

In order to meet the growing housing crisis, the report advocates a new type of social housing called ‘living rent’, which links the level of rent to income.

Rather than rents being linked to those charged in the market; it would be linked to local average income levels.

The IPPR has called for these ‘living rent’ homes to be initially aimed at key workers like nurses, shop workers and cleaners, who don’t necessarily qualify for social housing, but struggle with high housing costs in the private rented sector and have no immediate prospect of buying their own home.

‘For too long the cost of housing has been determined by the market and not by people’s ability to pay. The current pandemic has shown how this approach leaves people vulnerable to unexpected and unprecedented changes in their income,’ said IPPR research fellow, Jonathan Webb.

‘To build a fairer and more affordable housing system, we need to ensure that ability to pay is the key principle in housing, not profit. Building more social housing whilst also ensuring rents are linked more closely to incomes will help ensure we have enough homes that are genuinely affordable.’

The full report – Renting Beyond their Means: The Role of Living Rent in addressing housing affordability – is available to read here.

Photo Credit – JESHOOTS-com (Pixabay)