Shelter

Shelter Press Release 15 May 2025.

The government has today released two separate sets of statistics which reveal that runaway rents are leaving private renters increasingly at risk of losing their homes, while no-fault bailiff evictions continue to climb across England.

Alarming new figures from the English Housing Survey show that private renters in the lowest income bracket face the heaviest housing cost burden of any tenure in England:

Low-income private renters are spending almost two thirds (63%) of their income on housing, up from 56% in 2019/20.

Low-income private renters spend 9% more of their income on housing than mortgage holders, and 27% more than social renters in the same income bracket.

Across all income levels, private renters are shelling out more than a third (34%) of their household income on housing costs every month, up from 32% in 2019/20.

Until now, Section 21 evictions have been the leading cause of instability in private renting as they allow landlords to evict tenants with just two months' notice, with no reason given. A separate set of figures, released by the Ministry of Justice today and covering January to March, show 2,931 households in England were removed from their homes by bailiffs because of a no-fault eviction in the first three months of the year - an increase of 9% in a year.

The government has promised to scrap Section 21 as part of its Renters’ Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through the House of Lords. Doing away with no fault eviction has the potential to transform private renting for the better. But with average monthly rents soaring to a staggering £1,386 across England - up 7.8% in a year - Shelter warns that unless action is taken to limit huge jumps in rent, unaffordable rent increases will simply replace Section 21 as a form of no-fault eviction.

Alicia Walker, Assistant Director of Advocacy & Activism at Shelter, said: “Thousands of renters are being marched out of their homes because of an unjust policy that should already be history. No fault evictions must be scrapped by summer, but landlords can’t be allowed to continue using colossal rent hikes as a loophole to unfairly force tenants out.

“Rents and living costs are spiralling across England and tenants on the lowest pay are keeping hold of their homes by the skin of their teeth. Every day our frontline teams hear from families who’ve been hit with rent increases they just cannot afford - forced to pay up or ship out, with little standing between them and the nightmare of homelessness.

“With the Renters’ Rights Bill making its way through the House of Lords, this is the last chance to guarantee renters real security. If the government wants the Bill to be truly transformative, it must cap rent increases in line with inflation or wage growth to make renting genuinely safe, secure, and more affordable.”

Shelter Press Release 30 April 2025.

Shelter calls for urgent investment in Spending Review to end housing emergency.

New government statutory homelessness figures released today reveal 165,510 children are now homeless and living in temporary accommodation – a 14% increase in a year and the eighth record high in two years. Meanwhile nearly one in three homeless households (32%) are stuck in temporary accommodation out of their area.

The new data for October to December 2024 provides a grim snapshot of the deepening housing emergency in England with:

43,110 stuck in very expensive nightly-paid accommodation, which can include self-contained rooms, that are even more cramped than B&Bs – a rise of 47% in a year.

41,070 households uprooted from their communities and now housed in out of area temporary accommodation - a 23% rise in a year. Nearly half (46%) of London households are accommodated out of area.

23,230 households stuck in B&Bs and hostels – some of the most damaging forms of temporary accommodation for children – a rise of 5% in a year.

Shelter is warning that without urgent government investment, homelessness and its staggering costs to councils will continue to skyrocket. Using historical trends and government data, new analysis by Shelter estimates that 206,000 children will be homeless by 2029 and the number of households in temporary accommodation could surge by 44%. Without critical investment in social housing, the charity says that the cost of temporary accommodation is on track to spiral by 71% to £3.9 billion by 2029.

Mairi MacRae, Director of Campaigns and Policy at Shelter, said: “The housing emergency has reached critical levels and 165,510 children are paying the price. Without serious investment in social homes, our research shows homelessness will continue to skyrocket up and down the country and temporary accommodation costs risk bankrupting councils.

“In the absence of enough social homes, people are being funnelled into and trapped in temporary accommodation for years on end while billions are spent on sticking plaster solutions. Families are stuffed into unsuitable spaces, living on top of each other and out of suitcases, never knowing if and when they’ll be forced to uproot their lives.

“With the June Spending Review a few short weeks away, now is the time to turn the tide on the housing emergency. Government can and must commit ambitious investment to the only solution that works - 90,000 social rent homes a year for ten years would end homelessness for good.”

Shelter press release 28 November 2024. 

New government statutory homelessness figures released this winter reveal yet another shocking record, with 159,380 children now homeless and living in temporary accommodation - a 15% increase in a year and the highest figure since records began in 2004.

The number of households living in temporary accommodation has also hit another record 123,100, up 16% on last year.

One in three households (32% or almost 39,000) in temporary accommodation are now placed out of area – up by 39% from a year ago. More and more families are being placed in accommodation miles away from their support networks, jobs and children's schools.

The figures also show that there are 9,550 families with children stuck in B&Bs and hostels. Government rules say families should only be put in B&B accommodation as a last resort and only for a maximum of six weeks. B&Bs and hostels are considered some of the worst type of temporary accommodation as families are often cramped into one room, forced to share kitchens and bathrooms with strangers and where children have no space to play and are unable to have friends over. Sadly, this accommodation is far from temporary, with separate government data showing one in five families (21%) in B&Bs and hostels have been there for over a year.

Read more here