Most tenants in England’s private rented sector happy with renting

Most people renting a home in England are happy with the property with the majority having paid a deposit of four or more weeks’ rent, according to the latest data from the Government.

The figures in the English Housing Survey, published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) also show that most tenancies in the private rented sector end because the tenant wants to move.

It confirms that about one in five households in England live in the private rented sector, making it the second largest tenure, some 4.5 million households or 19% of all households. By comparison, 17% or four million live in the social rented sector and 64% or 14.8 million are owner occupiers.

The majority, some 84%, of private renters were satisfied or very satisfied with their current accommodation, though this was not as high a proportion of owner occupiers at 95%. However, private renters had the lowest proportion of satisfaction with tenure, at 69%, compared with 98% of owner occupiers.

Compared with social renters and owner occupiers, private renters spend the highest proportion of their income on housing. Despite this, the majority said they found it easy to pay their rent.

About three quarters of private renters paid a deposit at the start of their current tenancy. Most of these deposits were equivalent to the value of four or more weeks’ rent. Some 76% of private renters report paying a deposit at the start of their current tenancy. About three quarters, 73%, of these say this deposit was protected in one of the Government authorised tenancy deposit protection schemes.

Some 20% did not know whether their deposit was registered with one of these schemes. A breakdown of the figures shows that 42% paid the equivalent of four weeks rent while 44% paid more than four weeks rent.

Overall, most private rented sector tenancies ended because the tenant wanted to move. Of those who had lived in their current home for less than three years, 72% moved house because they wanted to.

The main reasons for moving in the past three years were job related for 18% of moves, 16% to move to a better neighbourhood and 13% to move to a larger home. Of those who did not move solely by choice, reasons included 12% being asked to move by a landlord, 10% moving on mutual agreement with a landlord and 8% moving due to the end of a fixed term tenancy.

Nearly two thirds, some 63% of private renters had no savings while 37% of private renters reported having some savings while 11% had savings of £16,000 or more. More than half of private renters, 58%, thought they would eventually buy a home but a sizeable proportion of those who expected to buy did not currently have any savings.

Younger renters were more likely to think they would eventually become home owners. Some 77% of those 16 to 24 thought they would buy, compared with 40% of those aged 45 to 64. Of the 42% of private renters who did not think they would eventually buy a home, 68% said this was because they could not afford to do so.

The survey found that there was no apparent link between those who thought they would eventually buy a home, and those who had substantial savings that could go towards a deposit. Some 12% of those who eventually planned to buy had substantial savings of £16,000 or more.

Despite improvement over time, privately rented homes were more likely to have indicators of poorer housing quality and safety than other tenures. The private rented sector had the highest proportion of non-decent homes. In 2017/2018 some 25% of homes in the private rented sector were non-decent according to the Decent Homes Standard. This is compared with 19% of owner occupied homes, and 13% of socially rented homes

According to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, 14% of privately rented homes had at least one Category 1 hazard, compared with 11% of owner occupied homes, and 6% of those in the social rented sector.

David Smith, policy director of the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) pointed out that the figures dispel the myth that private renting means insecure tenancies and ever increasing costs. It shows that renters are spending less of their income on housing, at 33%, down from 34% the previous year and 36% in 2014/2015, and are staying in their homes for over four years on average.

‘As Ministers look at ending so called ‘no fault’ evictions the survey finds that the large majority of those who moved out of their home did so because they wanted to, either for work, a larger home or to move to a different area,’ he said.

He also pointed out that it is good news for the sector that 84% of private renters also reported being satisfied with their current accommodation, higher than in the social rented sector.