Social landlords urged to support struggling tenants

The government has called on social landlords to help struggling households before considering eviction.

According to housing minister Matthew Pennycook, social landlords should seek to sustain tenancies when residents are falling behind with their rent, and only evict as “a last resort”.

“Landlords will, when managing their social housing schemes, provide advice and assistance to those struggling financially, including signposting to support services,” he commented.

Mr Pennycook also pointed out that there are clear processes that landlords must follow to help tenants before they consider taking legal action for rent arrears. 

This includes:

• making early contact with tenants to discuss why they’re struggling to pay their rent
• checking if the resident is eligible for housing benefit
• helping with any claim
• agreeing affordable repayment terms for the arrears 

How many people are struggling with their rent?

According to an analysis by Inside Housing, the amount of unpaid rent owed to housing associations rose by 8.4% in 2023 to a record high of nearly £800 million.

Meanwhile, figures from Access Paysuite show that the amount owed by social housing residents to local authorities has jumped by more than 70% since 2019, with councils owed £3.1 million on average.

Alex Common, divisional director, product and engineering at Access PaySuite, said: “The cost-of-living crisis has caused real difficulties for many people to meet their living costs, whether they rent their property from their local authority, a housing association or a private landlord.”

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