Shelter angry at Hunt’s ‘nothing about housing’...

Campaigning charity Shelter is angry with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt over his Budget

While most in the property industry have expressed relief that there have been no new punitive measures on the private rental sector, Shelter chief executive Polly Neate is less happy.

She says: “The Chancellor could have put an end to spiralling homelessness, but instead he’s stuck his head in the sand.”

Neate believes there’s a link between rising rents and the growing numbers of homeless.

This is especially the case amongst less affluent tenants: Shelter claims one in three private renters in England rely on housing benefit to help pay their rent.

Now she says: “Homelessness has almost doubled in the last 10 years and yet again we have a Budget that does nothing to help struggling renters who are drowning in debt and rapidly rising rents.

“It is outrageous that the government has chosen to keep housing benefit frozen at 2020 levels when its own figures show rents have risen by more than eight per cent in this time.

“A massive growth in homelessness is surely not the type of growth the government wants, so why is it ignoring this crisis?

“Sleeping rough or being shunted from hostel-to-hostel ruins people’s lives and costs the economy more. This is the government’s final warning to introduce emergency measures to keep people in their homes – it must urgently unfreeze housing benefit.”

Meanwhile the agents’ body Propertymark has also spoken out about the Budget, albeit from a different perspective.

Chief executive Nathan Emerson says: “There was no mention of tax incentives to boost much needed supply in the private rented sector.

“Whilst we recognise the UK Government’s focus on getting more people into work, there is little appetite to improve the welfare system and support those who are struggling the most which will have a continued knock-on impact particularly for those low-income households who rent.”

He continues: “The Chancellor has outlined a positive economic outlook in relation to growth, inflation and debt that will provide confidence to those looking to buy and sell their homes.

“Additional funding for Levelling Up regeneration projects will also help to develop communities and places where people want to live.

“However, despite the continued focus on VAT relief for energy saving materials it is disappointing that funding for energy efficiency improvements be-it for homeowners or landlords is not on the UK Government's agenda and the Budget is a missed opportunity to support people to de-carbonise the housing sector.”