Losing your job is always stressful. But what if it meant you could lose your home, too?
Sadly, this is the risk faced by nearly three million private renters in England. With little to no savings to fall back on, 45% of working renters would be unable to pay their rent after only one month if they lost their job and couldn’t get another straightaway.
Joanna says it’s always a balancing act: ‘It’s a real struggle to afford to pay for everything. I don’t feel as though there’s much left over at the end of the month if anything.’
What’s more, a staggering 60% (over 760,000) of working families with children are in the same boat – families just like Joanna’s. And there are more than half a million (550,000) renting families surviving paycheque to paycheque, who would face the even more terrifying prospect of being unable to pay their rent from the very moment they lost their job.
‘You do risk being stuck without having somewhere to house yourself and your children,’ says Joanna, who has no savings.
It’s unacceptable, but it’s the nightmare scenario many households like Joanna’s are forced to consider every day.
Caught in an endless cycle
In England, nearly two-thirds of privately renting households have no savings at all. It’s shocking but unsurprising, given that on average rent eats up 41% of a household’s monthly income.
With finances stretched to breaking point by expensive private rents, many families are left scraping by, month to month. This makes it impossible to save up for a rainy day or anything else. It’s a stark reminder of the impact of the nation’s housing emergency, fuelled by the chronic lack of affordable homes.
Millions of working people are now caught in an endless cycle of paying grossly expensive private rents they can barely afford – with all the insecurity that brings. Many are terrified that even a short-term dip in income could result in them losing their home for good.
Polly Neate, Chief Executive, Shelter
With your help, we can change this
We urgently need to take action. To guarantee a safe, secure home for everyone, we’re calling on all political parties to commit to building more genuinely affordable social homes. For millions of people, social housing is the only workable alternative to costly and deeply unstable private renting.
Access to a social home would make a huge difference to the lives of people like Joanna. Instead of struggling to make ends meet each month, Joanna would have the chance to enjoy life with her children in a truly stable home.
Politicians must prioritise building 90,000 new social homes every year for 10 years to end the housing emergency for good.
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