Propertymark steps up attack on government benefit cuts

Earlier this week Propertymark revealed it had co-signed an open letter criticising proposed government cuts to benefits. 

That open letter was co-signed by the National Residential Landlords Association, Shelter, The Mortgage Works, Nationwide, Crisis, The Big Issue and others.

Now Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson has gone further by adding his personal weight to the opposition to the cuts.

“We are adding our voice to scrutinise these policies and highlight the serious issue of tenant debt. The impact on landlords is evident as many tenants are already struggling financially because of the pandemic” he says.

“Agents are continuing to work with landlords and tenants to resolve rent issues where possible, however the freeze to Local Housing Allowance rates and the decision to cut Universal Credit, will simply exacerbate existing problems, risking tenancies which could otherwise be saved.” 

This was the full statement released on Monday:

The UK Government must complete and publish a full assessment of the impact on renters of their decisions to freeze Local Housing Allowance and cut Universal Credit, which risk pushing many households into poverty, problem debt, and homelessness.

In the wake of the pandemic, we saw bold and swift action from the Government to prevent a housing debt crisis including restoring Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of market rents and increasing the Universal Credit Personal Allowance.

With the economic impact of the pandemic increasing the financial strain on families, across the country the number of private rented households in receipt of the housing element of Universal Credit increased by 107 per cent between February 2020 and February 2021. Over 55 per cent of these households have a shortfall between the housing support they receive and the rent they have to pay.

The UK Government has confirmed that where such shortfalls exist, the median amount is £100 a month. This points to a need for continued support for families and individuals to cover the cost of rents. Yet since April this year, Local Housing Allowance has been frozen in cash terms, and later this year, Universal Credit will be cut by £20 a week.

Whilst the Institute for Fiscal Studies has described changes to Local Housing Allowance as “arbitrary and unfair” we have seen no assessment from the UK Government of the impact either of these policies will have on the capacity of recipients to cover rent payments.

As organisations representing landlords, letting agents, tenants, people facing homelessness, and debt advice services, we are united in calling on the UK Government to complete and publish a full assessment of the impact of both of these policies on the ability of renters to meet their housing costs.

We believe that the UK Government should reverse its decisions to cut Universal Credit and to freeze Local Housing Allowance. To apply policies like these without doing any meaningful impact assessment is, we argue, lacking the necessary foresight and consideration of the impact they will have on people’s security of tenure and well-being and for many will threaten their chance of recovery.