A New Emergency Has Been Declared In Greater Manchester

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Campaigners say too many are becoming ‘locked out’ of a pricey private rented sector, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Soaring rents, dangerous conditions, and a worrying lack of security are leaving families facing the prospect of homelessness. These are the problems which far too many tenants in Greater Manchester are battling every day in 2023. It’s a situation that has led to a new ’emergency’ being declared. Four leading charities have declared a ‘private rent emergency’ in Greater Manchester. The announcement comes today (October 10), which coincides with World Homeless Day. Stepping Stone Projects, Mustard Tree, The Booth Centre, and Shelter Greater Manchester have joined forces to launch the Greater Manchester Private Rent Emergency campaign. Together, they are calling on councils, politicians and other stakeholders to publicly recognise the ‘crisis in the private rental sector’ and back their plans for reform.

John Ryan, Greater Manchester strategic lead for Shelter, said: “We’ve seen positive steps to address rough sleeping and homelessness in Greater Manchester, but the problems that we see will continue to grow without reform of the private rented sector. Thousands of people are effectively locked out of the private rented sector by soaring rents and the social rented sector by lack of availability due to decades of under investment in building truly affordable homes.” The declaration of a ‘private rent emergency’ comes amid surging rents in recent years across the region. While rent increases reached a record high in the North West in October 2022 at 4.7 per cent, research from Urbanbubble has found some areas of Greater Manchester have seen a whopping increase of 38 per cent.

Figures compiled by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) suggest there has been a 12 per cent increase in rents for new tenancies, while just 4 per cent of new tenancies were within Local Housing Allowance rates between May and October last year. Meanwhile, 44 per cent of cases where households are at risk of homelessness in Greater Manchester are from people living in the private rented sector – compared to 9 per cent in the social housing sector. Campaigners say the ‘escalating homelessness crisis in the region’ is being exacerbated by a perfect storm of soaring rents, Local Housing Allowance being frozen at 2020 levels, the benefit cap, increasing evictions and the cost-of-living crisis. They add that, while rough sleeping has fallen in recent years, there has been a rising number of households relying on temporary accommodation.

Dave Smith, chief executive of Stepping Stone Projects, which supports around 2,000 people at risk of homelessness in Greater Manchester, said: “We have seen a rapid growth in homelessness and surging demand for temporary accommodation from local people who have effectively been shut out of the private rented sector. Soaring rents and inadequate rights have led to this emergency, which must be recognised and tackled if we are serious about reducing homelessness in Greater Manchester.”

The charities are calling for:

  • The swift introduction and implementation of the Renters’ Reform Bill, banning ‘no-fault’ evictions and enhancing tenant rights
  • Greater Manchester to have the power to control private rents in order to protect tenants from unaffordable increases
  • Increase Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates and reinstate indexation to ensure that the private rental sector can be accessed by households in receipt of benefits, and
  • An end to age discrimination in the LHA system and discrimination based on immigration status.

Paul Newcombe, chief executive of the Booth Centre in Manchester, said: “We are increasingly seeing the failure of the private rented sector lead directly to homelessness, with people on the lowest incomes simply unable to find a suitable home. As well as soaring rents, there are some preventable issues with the system that create an impossible situation for some of the most vulnerable people in our city region.” Jo Walby, chief executive of Mustard Tree, added: “Only by recognising that we are facing a Private Rent Emergency can we start to make some of the local, regional and national changes needed to prevent even more people from experiencing homelessness. Our organisations are all dedicated to providing support to people in the greatest need, and we will continue in this mission. But it is also incumbent on us to advocate for a fairer, more effective system, where everyone has the right to secure housing.”

Government data shows that the most common reason for households being at risk of becoming homeless in Greater Manchester was ‘end of private rented tenancy’ at 37 per cent. It also shows more than 15 per cent of private rented homes in the region have a category one hazard, while more than 26 per cent would not meet the decent homes standard. Yet research from Shelter and YouGov found that private renters who complain are two and a half times more likely to be evicted than those who do not. It’s a key reason why campaigners are urging government to bring forward the Renters Reform Bill as soon as possible and end no-fault evictions – with Greater Manchester Tenants’ Union recently protesting outside Conservative Party Conference for the cause. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) says it is committed to this, alongside a ban on ‘unacceptable discrimination from landlords against families, and the building of 300,000 new homes a year – including a million new homes during this parliament.

A DLUHC spokesperson added: “We will deliver a fairer deal for renters and landlords through the Renters Reform Bill, abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions to give tenants greater security in their homes. We are giving councils across Greater Manchester more than £23 million over the next two years to prevent homelessness – this can be used to work with landlords to provide temporary accommodation or find new housing. We’ve also maintained our £1billion boost to Local Housing Allowance while our Discretionary Housing payments provide a safety net for anyone struggling to meet their rent or housing costs.”