The Covid scheme will come to an end on September 30, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirming there will be no extension to the support system which is still paying a proportion of around 1.9 million people across the UK. Despite the introduction of the furlough scheme and Universal Credit uplift, hundreds of thousands of renters were still unable to pay the rent.

Meanwhile with  a £20 a week cut to Universal Credit and a continued freeze to housing benefit support, many more tenants face the prospect of mounting rent debts and are likely to accrue unsustainable debts.

A new report published in September by the NRLA shows that, by the Government’s own admission, the proportion of private renters in arrears tripled in the period from 2019/20 to the end of 2020 from three to nine percent.  

Charities, housing campaigners and local councils have warned the UK could now face a wave of homelessness with thousands of evictions likely to take place in the autumn and winter.

The NRLA points to warnings from the Bank of England about the risks posed to the country’s economic recovery as a result of renters experiencing financial difficulties. It also highlights  concerns about what impact  a failure to tackle COVID related rents debts will have on the credit scores of affected tenants, as well as the likelihood that they will be able to stay in their homes.  

You can read NRLA's report on this here  Download