News
Rural tenants face brunt of rent rises, claims deposit scheme
Wednesday 13th December 2023
Political parties need to work out how to improve affordability for tenants whilst not undermining the supply of private rented housing says TDS.
Private sector tenants in rural areas are facing the brunt of rising rent demands, research from TDS Charitable Foundation reveals today.
Whilst tenants across England report an average 17% increase in the cost of their rent over the past year, this jumps to 27% among those in rural areas.
Almost a third of tenants said it was now 'difficult' or 'very difficult' to afford their rent each month. Among student tenants and those affected by the housing benefit rate freeze, 40% said they were struggling to pay their rent.
Over half (52%) of all tenants said they regularly cut back on household essentials such as food, heating and clothing in order to pay the rent while four out of 10 (40%) said they were struggling to afford their utility bills.
The research also found that among those who had moved into a private rented property in the previous six months just over eight out of 10 (82%) had experienced one or more challenges in securing a suitable property. Meanwhile just under half (48%) struggled to find anywhere affordable and a fifth (20%) found it difficult to afford the deposit required.
The financial pressures faced by tenants are also diminishing their confidence to ever become homeowners. And whilst 44% said that they would like to own their own home, around a third (35%) say that they now expect to be renters most of their life.