private rented sector Jabeer Butt, OBE Deputy Chief Executive Race - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Ethnicity, health and the private rented sector

Jabeer Butt, OBE Deputy Chief Executive Race Equality Foundation Tackling health inequalities in private rented housing 26th November 2014

Megan McFarlane (2014) Ethnicity health and the private rented sector, Better Housing Briefing, No 25, Race Equality Foundation Available for download at: www.better-housing.org.uk

There has been a marked increase in the actual and relative number of households living in the private rented sector

• 9 million private renters in England- PRS larger

than social rented sector for first time since 1960s

• PRS housed 1.7m (9%) households in England

in 1992, 3.9m (18%) households in 2013

• Particularly rapid since 2001, with the

introduction of Buy to Let mortgages and rising property values

CHOICE & FLEXIBILITY VS.

INSECURITY, UNPREDICTABLE RENT LEVELS & HOUSING CONDITIONS

Poor housing conditions are more prevalent in the private rented sector compared to both the owner occupied and social rented sectors

HOUSING HEALTH AND SAFETY RATING SYSTEM (HHSRS) = 29 H & S HAZARDS IN HOUSING

• More than 3m homes in England fail to meet the HHSRS

‘minimum standard’

• % non-decent homes higher in PRS
• Increasing proportion of PRS households in poverty
• Caused by “light-touch” approach to regulation? (exclusion

from Decent Homes Standard), “part-time” or “accidental” landlords?

• Increasing power imbalance between tenants and landlords

(increasing demand, rising rent, short fixed-term contracts, Section 21 notices)

33 20 15 20 40 PRS Owner/oc… Social

% non-decent homes

PRS households in poverty

2011 18% 2001 10%

HAVE NOT ASKED FOR REPAIRS OR CHALLENGED RENT INCREASE IN LAST YEAR BECAUSE OF FEAR OF EVICTION

1 / 8

EVICTED, SERVED NOTICE OR THREATENED WITH EVICTION IN PAST 5YRS FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT PROBLEMS

1 / 33

Black and minority ethnic households and recent migrants are more likely to be living in the private rented sector

• Ethnic minority households overrepresented in PRS
• Proportional increase of renters highest for these

groups

• Most recent migrants are renters- often only

accessible tenure (unable to obtain mortgage, not social housing) BME HOUSEHOLDS WHITE HOUSEHOLDS

PERCENTAGE IN PRS

31% 15%

VS.

• VS. 56.5%

MIGRANT HOUSEHOLDS ethnic minority households are “more likely to live in homes with problems related to damp and disrepair, to live in areas with problems in the local environment, and to live in

• vercrowded conditions

than households with a white HRP” (DCLG, 2013b).

Poor housing contributes to a range of health and wellbeing impacts

OVERCROWDING

• associated with depression, anxiety

isolation, social deprivation, infectious diseases

• TB cases per 100,000 people X 10

times higher amongst non-UK born residents

• BME HHs X 6 more likely to be
• vercrowded

COLD & DAMP

• Associated with cardiovascular conditions,

respiratory diseases, increased risk of falls, mental health problems, arthritis, rheumatism

• Average of 26,700 ann. excess winter deaths

[Dec- Mar]

• 4% BME HHs experienced Cat. 1 cold (vs. 6%

white HH)

• Using Hills def. [diff between a HH’s required

fuel costs and what these costs would need to be for them not to be in fuel poverty] 16% BME HHs vs. 10% white HHs

Poor housing contributes to a range of health and wellbeing impacts

HOMELESSNESS

• Loss of PRS tenancies increasingly =>

homelessness

• Up 75% in North, up to 316% in London
• Influence of welfare reform i.e. caps on Local

Housing Allowance, bedroom tax (spare-room subsidy)

• BME people more likely to become

homeless/be affected by “hidden homelessness”

• Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers may

be at risk due to a lack of support networks, limited familiarity with benefits systems, lack

• f entitlement to benefits and services
• 2013-14, 54% of rough sleepers in London =

non-UK nationals, 31% from Central and Eastern European BEDS IN SHEDS

• Illegally rented accommodation

(outhouses, garages, sheds)

• Usually fail to meet H&S standards, lack

electricity, running water and fire safety

• In London in last 5yrs, Fire Brigade

attended 438 fires in illegally occupied buildings => 69 serious injuries and 13 deaths

• LFB taken formal enforcement

action on around 200 occasions

There has been a range of responses to address the issue of poor standards in the private rented sector

• £3 million fund for English councils to tackle issues relating to PRS, such as illegally rented
• uthouses.
• National taskforce to address ‘beds in sheds’ and guide to dealing with ‘rogue landlords’.
• Government proposals include: specific protections against retaliatory evictions, the right to

reclaim rent using Rent Repayment Orders, Tenants' Charter to give those in the private rented sector “a better understanding of what they can expect and, if something goes wrong, where to go for help” (DCLG, 2014b).

• Proposals focused on strengthening tenants’ rights to access finance for energy improvements

similar to the Green Deal model.

• Labour plans focus on promoting stability within the sector through the standardisation of

three-year tenancies and controlled rent increases (Labour Party website, 2014).

• Support organisations for private renters: information services, private tenant advocates or

campaigning organisations.