Nearly two-thirds of working private renters - 4,450,000 people - are falling behind with rent payments or struggling to pay their rent.

A new poll by YouGov for Shelter shows that although 32% of workers can keep up with their rent payments without difficulty, 40% sometimes struggle and 23% constantly struggle, reports The Guardian, while 3% are falling behind on their payments.

A group of 23 directors from businesses, unions and charities including Ikea and Shelter, have cited the figures in a letter to chancellor Rachel Reeves, urging her to spend enough to build 90,000 new social rented housing each year during the parliament, at a cost of up to £11.5 billion.

They argue that building more low-cost rented housing would help alleviate the demand pressures in the private sector, which experts say are pushing prices higher.

Housing emergency

The letter says: “As we enter 2025, we must get serious about ending the housing emergency that is holding our country and our economy back. Social rented housing is the only genuinely affordable housing by design, as rents are tied to local incomes.

What’s more, history and research both show that without major social housing investment and a major boost to council housebuilding, the government cannot deliver its election promise to build 1.5m homes.”

Reeves will announce how much she intends to spend on the affordable homes programme over the next few years, at the spending review in June. The previous government committed £11.5 billion over a five-year period until 2026, but that money has already run out, prompting the chancellor to put in an extra £500 million at October’s budget.

Reeves is already under pressure from housing secretary Angela Rayner to substantially increase the size of the programme.