More than 70,000 lone-parent households are facing eviction this winter amid warnings that they are “bearing the brunt” of the housing crisis in England, figures reveal.
A survey by Shelter has found that one in seven lone parents who rent privately – more than 74,000 people – and their children are facing homelessness within weeks.
The housing charity found that one-parent families were far more likely to fall behind on their rent or face so-called no-fault evictions than the wider population.
Polly Neate, the chief executive of Shelter, said: “Private renting is broken and lone parents are bearing the brunt of the crisis. Decades of failure to build genuinely affordable social homes has meant that competition for rentals is fierce and the barriers to finding and keeping hold of a safe home are higher than ever.”
Campaigners have warned that lone-parent families were at heightened risk of being made homeless because they are in effect being blacklisted from the rental market with discriminatory policies such as blanket bans on children or housing benefit.
The survey, conducted by YouGov and funded by the Nationwide Building Society, found that more than two in five single parents (41%) say they have borrowed money to pay their rent, compared with 27% of households without children.
Almost 60% said that they fear becoming homeless due to rising housing costs, compared with 40% of households without children.
To calculate how many people are threatened with losing their home this winter, Shelter looked at the number of adults renting privately who have received or been threatened with an eviction notice in the last month, as well as the number of tenants who are behind on their rent, which puts their home in danger.
One in seven lone parents fit this criteria, amounting to 74,000 people, compared with one in 10 in the wider population who rent privately in England.
Neate said: “Wrangling runaway rents and soaring living costs, all while trying to balance childcare and work is hard enough for all parents, but it’s made more so if you have to do a lot of it on your own.”
She added: “The only real, lasting solution is to invest in truly affordable social homes with rents tied to local incomes. Until the government gets on and commits to that more people will be forced to turn to our services.”
One in five UK households are in privately rented homes while rents for new tenancies are up by more than 25% since 2020 despite worsening conditions and squalor, as revealed by the Guardian’s Living Hell series in November.
Average rents outside London are 10% higher than a year ago, at £1,278 a month, according to separate figures from the property website RightMove. In Greater London, the average monthly rent is a record £2,627 – up 12.1% compared with last year.
The number of private landlords seeking to evict tenants through the courts has risen to a seven-year high, amid warnings that the use of no-fault evictions is “soaring out of control”.
Gingerbread, the charity for single-parent families, said lone parents were the worst affected by a “perfect storm” of rising interest rates, stagnating wages, and a competitive rental market.
Victoria Benson, its chief executive, said: “There isn’t enough social housing and surviving on just one income means that too many single parents struggle to afford expensive and often insecure private rentals – let alone a large deposit. We know of single mums who have been forced to move to unsuitable accommodation and others who have had to move away from their support networks and even their children’s schools due to rental costs.
“How can it be right that single-parent families are forced to make such big life changes just because of the shape of their family?”
A government spokesperson said: “The renters reform bill which is currently going through parliament will abolish section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, delivering a fairer, more secure, and higher quality private rented sector.
“We have also announced a substantial increase in local housing allowance which will benefit 1.6m low-income households by on average £800 a year from April 2024.”
