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Written Question
Private Rented Housing
Wednesday 28th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits to the economy of the private rental sector.

Answered by Lord Greenhalgh

We have not made an assessment to quantify the contribution of the private rented sector (PRS) to the economy. We recognise that the PRS plays an important role on providing homes to over 4 million households in England. The Government is committed to delivering a package of reforms to ensure the PRS can operate effectively and meet the needs of both tenants and landlords.


The PRS supports labour market mobility, allowing households to move easily both within and between regions, leading to a more efficient allocation of labour and skills. This is due to the relative ease with which renters can give notice and sign new tenancies, and the relative lower costs of moving, when compared to owner-occupier house sales. A key part of our future PRS reforms is to ensure the flexibility of private rental tenancies is retained, whilst balancing increased security for those tenants who need and want it, alongside driving an improvement in the quality and standards of PRS accommodation.


In addition, the Build to Rent sector continues to attract investment with analysis by Savills estimating that approximately £1.2 billion was invested into the UK’s Build to Rent sector during the first quarter of 2021.


Written Question
Rents: Arrears
Wednesday 28th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their press release Support for renters continues with longer notice periods, published on 12 May, on what grounds they have concluded that many landlords are “highly vulnerable to rent arrears”.

Answered by Lord Greenhalgh

The UK Government has put in place an unprecedented package of support for renters during the pandemic, including financial measures to enable them to continue paying rent to landlords.

However, we know that 45% of landlords have just one rental property and 38% have between two to four properties. For most landlords, income from rent makes up 42% of their total gross income making them highly vulnerable when their tenants build up rent arrears.

The Government has to balance supporting tenants with landlords' ability to exercise their right to justice where needed. As national restrictions continue to ease, it is appropriate that the emergency measures start to lift but we are doing so gradually.


Written Question
Rents: Arrears
Thursday 29th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individual tenants, rather than households, are represented by the finding in the Household Resilience Study: Wave 2, published on 21 April, that 22 per cent of private renters reported finding it more difficult to keep up with rent payments since June–July 2020.

Answered by Lord Greenhalgh

The Household Resilience Study collects data by household, rather than by individual. In November-December 2020, 610,000 households reported that they were finding it more difficult to keep up with their rent payments since June-July 2020. 353,000 households reported that they were in rent arrears and 278,000 households reported that they were not currently in arrears but were very or fairly likely to fall behind with rent payments over the next three months.

Further information about the Household Resilience Study is available (attached) at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-resilience-study-wave-2.


Written Question
Rents: Arrears
Thursday 29th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individual tenants, rather than households, are represented by the finding in the Household Resilience Study: Wave 2, published on 21 April, that eight per cent of private renters said they were very or fairly likely to fall behind with rent payments over the next three months.

Answered by Lord Greenhalgh

The Household Resilience Study collects data by household, rather than by individual. In November-December 2020, 610,000 households reported that they were finding it more difficult to keep up with their rent payments since June-July 2020. 353,000 households reported that they were in rent arrears and 278,000 households reported that they were not currently in arrears but were very or fairly likely to fall behind with rent payments over the next three months.

Further information about the Household Resilience Study is available (attached) at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-resilience-study-wave-2.


Written Question
Rents: Arrears
Thursday 29th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individual tenants, rather than households, are represented by the finding in the Household Resilience Study: Wave 2, published on 21 April, that nine per cent of private renters were in arrears in November–December 2020.

Answered by Lord Greenhalgh

The Household Resilience Study collects data by household, rather than by individual. In November-December 2020, 610,000 households reported that they were finding it more difficult to keep up with their rent payments since June-July 2020. 353,000 households reported that they were in rent arrears and 278,000 households reported that they were not currently in arrears but were very or fairly likely to fall behind with rent payments over the next three months.

Further information about the Household Resilience Study is available (attached) at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-resilience-study-wave-2.