More people in Shropshire renting homes privately than 10 years ago

The latest figures from the 2021 census of England and Wales come as a housing campaign group has called on the Government to come good on its promise of a better deal for private tenants.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show 24,367 households were renting privately in the Shropshire Council area when the census was carried out in March 2021 – 17.5 per cent of the 139,579 households in the area.

In Telford & Wrekin 16,197 households were renting privately – 21.2 per cent of 76,509 homes, while in Powys it was 10,760 – 17.9 per cent of 60,182.

At the time of the previous census in March 2011, in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin 15 per cent of households were private renters, while in Powys it was 14.8 per cent.

Across England and Wales there are now five million private renters – 20.3 per cent of households, up from 3.9 million – 16.7 per cent in 2011.

Dan Wilson Craw, deputy director of the housing campaign Generation Rent, said these tenants are “paying high rents to private landlords, face a much greater risk of living in a poor-quality home, and live with the threat of eviction at short notice”.

He added that despite the Government recognising the need for reforms in the sector – such as abolishing so-called 'no-fault' evictions – it is yet to introduce legislation to properly support private tenants.

Separate figures from the ONS and the Valuation Office Agency show that median private rent in the West Midlands was £660 a month as of March 2021 – up 32 per cent from £500 in June 2011 – the earliest comparable figures.

Shelter, a charity that tackles homelessness, said the "only lasting solution" to the housing crisis is to build more social homes.

It pointed to a waiting list of more than a million households for social housing across England, saying that the social housing is lost every year to sales and demolitions.

Polly Neate, chief executive of the charity, said: “It’s time for the Government to invest in a new generation of good quality social homes with genuinely affordable rents pegged to local incomes.”

Across England and Wales, there has been little change in the amount of social housing in the past decade – while the number of households in social homes increased from 4.1 million to 4.2 million, the proportion actually fell, from 17.6 per cent of households to 17.1 per cent.

The census figures also suggest it may be getting harder to join the housing ladder.

The number of households owning their home through a mortgage, loan or shared ownership has dropped across England and Wales, from 7.8 million – 33.5 per cent of households in 2011 to 7.4 million – 29.7 per cent last year.

The same was true of Shropshire, where the share of households with mortgages or shared ownership fell from 31.2 per cent in 2011 to 27 per cent last year, and in Telford & Wrekin where it dropped from 36.9 per cent to 30.5 per cent.

For Powys it dropped from 25.1 per cent to 21.2 per cent over the same period.

A spokesperson for the Department of Levelling up, Housing and Communities said: “Ensuring a fair deal for renters remains a priority for the government, that’s why we will deliver on our commitment to abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and introduce a Renters Reform Bill in this Parliament."