Three quarters of Suffolk renters have struggled to find an affordable home in the last six months, while half had a rent increase – an average of £58 – according to new research.

Safe Suffolk Renters, which involves all five of the county’s district and borough councils and is part-funded by central Government, worked with Generation Rent to study housing issues in the county, and discovered that rising rents continue to impact tenants’ ability to live in Suffolk.

“My rent has gone up more than £350 in three years, once a year, each time by at least £100. It’s stressful,” says one resident.

Most tenants also reported issues in their home which required landlord attention, but less than half experienced a successful resolution, and most had to either fix the problem themselves (26%) or allow the problem to go unresolved (30%).

Councillor Richard O’Driscoll (pictured), cabinet member for housing at West Suffolk Council, says rising rents are having an impact on people’s ability to afford a place to live, which in turn has seen more threatened with homelessness.

He adds: “We know…that there are issues around poor living conditions and homes not being kept up to a decent standard of repair. This in turn leaves residents exposed to cold, damp and other hazards that can only be damaging for their health and wellbeing which is why the work of Safe Suffolk Renters is so important.”

Rising rents

Ben Twomey(pictured), chief executive of Generation Rent, says tenants in Suffolk are under threat from rising rents, a proliferation of short term lets, and the risk of eviction even if they have done nothing wrong.

“Generation Rent welcomes Safe Suffolk Renters’ proactive efforts to recognise these trends and is confident that the project will lead to more empowered tenants living in better hoes,” adds Twomey.

Safe Suffolk Renters aims to carry out more proactive and targeted inspections while providing advice and support to landlords and tenants.