By Vivienne Russell | 30 October 2013
There was a 21% rise in the number of council households in rent arrears in England in the three months to June, according to a survey of council housing bodies.
A poll of members of the National Federation of Arm’s-length management organisations, the Association of Retained Council Housing and the Councils with Almos Group also identified a 16% increase in the monetary value of arrears.
If these trends are extrapolated nationwide, the rent arrears rose by £17.5m over the three months following introduction of the government’s welfare reforms.
For households deemed to be under-occupying and therefore subject to the controversial ‘bedroom tax’, there was a 59% increase in the number going into arrears. Tenants and landlords in the north of England were particularly hard hit, where the proportion of under-occupying households in arrears increased by 104%.
Commenting on the findings, Chloe Fletcher, policy director at the NFA, said: ‘Given the rising cost of living, local authority spending cuts, and changes to the wider welfare benefits system, it isn’t surprising that councils and Almos are finding it more difficult to collect rent.
‘What is alarming is the speed by which households affected by the under-occupancy penalty have struggled to maintain rent payments and the scale of unintended consequences of the reforms for housing providers in some parts of the country.’
Matthew Warburton, policy adviser at Arch, added that the research confirmed many councils did not have enough smaller accommodation to let under-occupying tenants downsize.
‘This implies that arrears are likely to go on rising as tenants continue to struggle to pay.’
A total of 17 councils and 28 Almos responded to the survey, which was sent out in August.
Together, the NFA, Arch and CWAG represent just over 1.3m council properties, around a third of the social housing in England.
