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Private Rental Unaffordable, Claims Shelter (17 October 2011)

Date: 17/10/2011
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Private Rental Unaffordable, Claims Shelter

Private rents have reached unaffordable levels in over half of all local authorities in England, the housing charity Shelter has claimed. Rental home in these areas are associated with a cost in excess of 35 per cent of the median average local take-home pay - a level considered unaffordable by Shelter's Private Rent Watch report. The charity claimed that 38 per cent of families who rent privately are forced to reduce the amount they spend on food in order to pay the rent. Shelter's research found that house rents had increased at one-and-a-half times the rate of income between 1997 and 2007. It described private rent in eight per cent of local authorities in England as “extremely unaffordable”, consuming at least half of full-time take-home income. Only 12 per cent of areas were found to be affordable. Shelter’s report focused on two-bedroom homes and used data from the Valuation Office Agency and Office for National Statistics.

The charity found that rural areas were the worst hit by the high cost of house rentals relative to income; the cost of renting a house in Manchester or Birmingham was found to be more affordable than renting a property in North Devon or Herefordshire. The Countryside Alliance has urged the Government to conduct an urgent review of rental prices in rural areas.

Duncan Lewis’ housing department is able to provide legal support on a wide range of housing issues, including landlord-tenant disputes. The team of housing solicitors pride themselves on offering a friendly, professional, and efficient service to all their clients.

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