Yesterday, a Westminster Hall debate took place, led by Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Lloyd. He aimed to highlight the effect of universal credit on the private rented sector. Simply, landlords aren’t loving the prospect of not getting their rent money, so they are simply saying they won’t rent to anyone on benefits.
This is going to create a massive problem as people find they can’t find somewhere to live.
Here’s Christine Jardine speaking in the debate:
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Added to the cost of renting privately, this will encourage further homelessness.
So glad that our MPs are continuing the protests about the unfeeling way that UC has been rolled out, resulting in real hardship as Christine has said. I don’t what the significance of a Westminster Hall debate is, but I am sure we need to keep protesting about this.
There are many other reasons why it is difficult to rent to people on benefits. For example, it is very difficult to get buildings insurance and almost impossible to get contents insurance. Also, if you need to get them out for any reason (e.g. you need to sell or to refurbish) then the local authorities require you to evict them through the courts. Otherwise they say that the tenant has made themselves intentionally homeless. The government (both local and national) is it’s own worst enemy in this respect. See: https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06547 and https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN07008 for more on this.