Renters' Rights Bill

Written evidence submitted by Michelle Anderson to The Renters’ Rights Public Bill Committee (RRB77)

Rights Bill Committee

1 - My name is Michelle and I live in Cheshire. I have 2 children, aged 17 and 18 and we have a dog. I have lived in the private renting sector all my life. Some may ask why I haven't gone down the council housing route... I have tried. I am at the bottom of the list and not considered a priority, so getting into a council house will probably never happen for me.

2 - Private renting is hard. Especially if you don't work, or you do but you are on a low income. This is the reality of my life; I am on Universal Credit,  I receive Child Benefit and the work I do is agency work. So, this means, according to estate agencies, that I don't have a guaranteed income.

3 - As a result of all the above, I have to provide a guarantor to be able to rent a property, unless I'm earning 30x the monthly rent – a figure I have heard repeated by several estate agents. This is discrimination. I don't have anyone that could act as my guarantor and if I did, I wouldn't want to put someone under that kind of pressure! The rule that a guarantor must earn over a certain amount, be a home-owner and have an impeccable credit history is hugely inhibiting and discriminatory.

4 - I don’t know where the demand has come from that my annual income should be at least 30x the monthly rent of a property before I am allowed to rent it. I've now been forced to start looking for work that pays more than I've ever earned before, just to be able to rent a property. This is despite being able to prove that I could afford the rent each month. I was told that if I cannot provide a guarantor, I can instead pay 6-months' rent upfront; this is an unreasonable amount of money and not an option for me. I am sure it is not an option for many others too.

5 - The other issue I'm currently facing is that my previous landlord continued increasing the rent each year, by £100 a month; meaning around a total increase of £1,200 every year. I took that rental house on the basis of its price and location. The landlord knew about my income but still proceeded to increase the rent up to the point where I've been forced to move back to my parents. According to the letting agents I’ve spoken to, I do not earn enough to rent another property. So basically, this was a Section 21’no fault’ eviction in all but name. I had no way of staying as I couldn't afford the endless rent increases.

6 - Lots of people think there is some kind of ceiling that limits how much a landlord can increase the rent by, but this isn't the case. Without some kind of threshold which stops the rent going up beyond what people can afford, renters are going to keep finding themselves forced out of their homes because they can't keep up.

7 - Renting really shouldn't be this hard. Everyone deserves a home. People shouldn't be discriminated against just because they are on a low-income or receive benefits. If you know that you can afford the rent and can prove that with your earnings, then why isn’t that enough? It is baffling.

October 2024.