Renters hit hardest by Covid-19

Private renters are more likely to have fallen behind with housing costs than those with a mortgage since the start of the coronavirus crisis, a new study suggests.

One in eight private renters have fallen behind, compared to one in 12 mortgaged homeowners, said the Resolution Foundation.

The figures, from a survey of more than 6,000 adults, highlight how the pandemic has exacerbated Britain’s housing divide, said the thinktank.

One in five private renters have been furloughed or lost their job since the crisis began, compared to around one in seven mortgaged homeowners, although homeowners are more likely to have had their hours and pay reduced, said the report.

Private renters face higher costs in the first place, with their average pre-crisis housing costs estimated to be 32% of their family’s income, compared to 11% among mortgaged homeowners, said the report.

Almost one in four private renters had no savings in the run-up to the crisis, compared to one in eight homeowners, said the foundation, adding that many people living in private rented accommodation have been forced to cut back on basic spending or, in the case of young people, to move house.

Lindsay Judge, principal research and policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Policymakers need to recognise that, while the 1990s recession was infamously most severe for the UK’S homeowners, this recession is biting hardest for renters.”