Findings include that private rental arrears remain higher than they were pre-pandemic, while mortgage arrears have returned to pre-pandemic levels
A new survey from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has highlighted the changing circumstances of households in the first nine months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Providing a follow up to the English Housing Survey (EHS) 2019/2020 published in December 2020, the Household Resilience Study: Wave 2 report is the second in a three-part exercise to track the experiences of respondents to the main EHS 2019/2020 in order to assess the impacts of the pandemic on housing circumstances.
NB - the Wave 1 study was based on fieldwork undertaken in June-July 2020, while the Wave 2 study fieldwork was carried out in November-December 2020. The third and final Wave 3 study is running in April-May 2021 to coincide with the easing of Covid-19 related restrictions.
Among the report’s findings on the impacts of the Covid outbreak on the private rented sector are that -
9 per cent of private renters (353,000 households) were in arrears, up from 3 per cent in 2019/2020 but unchanged from June/July 2020 when 7 per cent were in arrears (the difference is not considered statistically significant);
of the 9 per cent of renters in arrears, 4 per cent were up to one month behind, 2 per cent were more than one month but less than two months behind, 1 per cent were two months or more behind, while 2 per cent were in arrears but did not declare how far behind they were;
a further 8 per cent of private renters said they were very or fairly likely to fall behind with rent payments in the next three months, representing approximately 278,000 households; and
overall, 22 per cent of private renters reported finding it more difficult to keep up with rent payments since June/July 2020 - the main reasons cited were being furloughed on reduced pay (15 per cent) or working fewer hours/less over time (14 per cent).
In relation to other housing tenures, the report highlights that the proportion of mortgagors who reported they were in arrears had returned to pre-pandemic levels of 1 per cent, fewer than the 6 per cent who reported they were in arrears in June-July 2020, meaning approximately 73,000 households were in arrears in November-December 2020. With regard to social renters, the report finds that over the course of the pandemic, the proportion in arrears increased to 13 per cent in June-July 2020 from its pre-pandemic level of 11 per cent, then reduced back to 11 per cent in November-December 2020.
Elsewhere, the report provides a more mixed picture of both negative and apparent positive trends for households as the pandemic has progressed, including that -
overcrowding has increased, particularly in the private rented sector where 15 per cent of households were overcrowded in November-December 2020, up from 7 per cent in 2019/2020; overcrowding also increased for owner-occupiers (1 per cent to 2 per cent) but was unchanged over the same period for social renters (9 per cent to 10 per cent is not a statistically significant increase);
around a fifth of those with a mortgage or renting privately (both 22 per cent) reported a decrease in income of at least £100 per month; however, a further 15 per cent of each group reported that their income increased by at least £100 per month;
almost three quarters (72 per cent) of households reported that their household income had either not changed or increased since June-July 2020; and
more households reported having savings compared to before the pandemic but it was also more likely for the amount of savings to have decreased than to have increased.
For more information, see Household Resilience Study: Wave 2 from gov.uk