Low-income renters are falling into a "housing black hole", with new analysis suggesting that fewer than one in eight homes listed for rent are affordable to those receiving housing benefit. Spiralling rents, coupled with a freeze on housing benefit, have led to a "huge shortfall" in affordable homes in England, say the homelessness charity Crisis and the property listing portal Zoopla.
This growing gap is pushing thousands of renters to breaking point as the cost-of-living crisis deepens, they warn. Factoring in the chronic shortage of rented homes, they say it is likely many more people will be driven from their homes, with evictions and homelessness already rising.
Crisis and Zoopla are calling for the Government to raise housing benefit at the autumn budget if it wants to prevent thousands from being pushed into homelessness. The groups carried out joint research, analysing new listings for one, two and three-bed properties for rent on Zoopla between May 2021 and April 2022.
