New official data about the private rented sector reveals that it is in better shape than some tenants’ rights groups like to claim.

The updated information about tenants’ experiences renting from private landlords comes from the latest updates from the English Housing Survey published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

It reports that among the 4.6 million households who rent privately, 71% reported ‘no issues’ affording their rent with just 5% in arrears.

On average, private renters spent a third of their household income on housing costs including rent, a higher proportion than homeowners with a mortgage (18%) and social tenants (26%).  

Claims that many tenants face a lack of security when renting, which has persuaded Labour to make tenancies open-ended rather than fixed, are put under the spotlight by the English Housing Survey updates too.

They reveal that on average private tenants have spent 4.3 years in their current home, a figure that has remained consistent over the past five years.  

They also tackle the claims made by some groups that many tenants are ‘thrown out of their homes without reason’ using Section 21 evictions.

Instead, the report reveals that just 9% of tenants who had moved during the previous three years reported being evicted or asked to leave.

In over two-thirds of those cases it was because the landlord wanted to sell or use the property themselves.

But property quality is an issue, the updates reveal – around 21% of private rented sector homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard, which is a small improvement on 23% during 2019, before the pandemic.

By comparison, 14% of owner-occupied homes and just 10% of social housing were classified as ‘non-decent.’

“These figures may reflect the fact that the Decent Homes Standard does not yet formally apply to the PRS, though future rental reform proposals aim to change this,” says Allison Thompson (pictured), National Lettings Managing Director at the Leaders Romans Group.

“While it’s positive that four out of five PRS homes are considered decent, there is still room for improvement.”

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