Renters' Rights Bill

Written evidence submitted by Dave Lockyer to The Renters’ Rights Public Bill Committee (RRB78)

Dear Committee members ,

1 - My name is Dave; I am 52 and I have lived in the Guildford and Woking areas all my life . I entered the private rent ing sector in 2009 after a marriage breakdown , not through choice, but because I had no other options. At present I live in Woking with my 17-year-old son .

2 - For some context, I have worked since I left school at 16 but in 2015, I had a minor accident which has led to having chronic, constant pain in my lower back. I also have joint pain in my hips and knees. I have a limited capability for work and so am in receipt of benefits. (Universal Credit with a limited capacity for work component and Personal Independence P ayment). I have looked for suitable, appropriate work since 2015 but have been unsuccessful. To try and improve my employment prospects, I have been studying part time for a Science degree and I volunteer.

3 - In August 2018 I received a section 21 notice from my landlord , which resulted in being homeless for approximately 2 months. In January 2019 , the local council found me a private rent 1 bed house that fell within the local housing allowance. In June 2022 I received another Section 21 notice. To be clear, there was never any issue with rent arrears or anti-social behaviour . The only thing which changed in my circumstances during this time was that m y son came to live with me in March 2022.

4 - Between June 2022 and January 2023 (court ordered date of eviction 29th Jan 2023) I was therefore looking for alternative accommodation. My teenage son was living with me and attended the local college. I do not own a car, so we needed to stay nearby , or on a regular public transport route. It was one of the most stressful, upsetting and humiliating 6 months of my life.

5 - I checked the Rightmove and O pen R ent websites every day. As soon as I filtered the results to show what was within the LHA there were zero properties available. Very occasionally , there would be one within the LHA, but it was always non - local. After a few months one came up and it was on a bus route to Woking town centre , so it was suitable for my son to get to college. I sent the landlord (who apparently had many properties) a message explaining my situation and promptly received a reply saying "I don’t take anyone on benefits". I pointed out this was unlawful discrimination, but he just laughed at me. He then suggested if I could pay the full year of rent upfront, he would consider it. Yes I thought, I’ll just go and pluck that £15,000 off my money tree. If I had £15,000 just lying around, I probably wouldn’t be renting. The reality is , he knew I wouldn’t have access to that kind of money because I’m on benefits.

6 - I registered with every single letting agent in Woking and viewed lots of properties that were all above LHA , but I had no choice other than to accept that I would have to use part of my PIP to cover the difference. At every viewing, and every conversation with Lettings agents, the second benefits are mentioned, all interest is lost. I have been told the "landlord would prefer a professional couple" countless times. This is just a backdoor way of saying "We don’t take anyone on benefits". I was constantly asked for a guarantor, or for 6+ months rent in advance. Some asked for BOTH a guarantor AND multiple months' rent in advance. All these demands equate to ‘ We don’t want people on benefits , so we will price them out or put other barriers in the way. ’ To be clear, this attitude was the norm, not the exception.

7 - Also, I was constantly asked personal and intrusive questions about the circumstances of my disability, my income and what I did for work. The local council had already completed a detailed affordability check, why is th at not enough? What business is it of the landlord or agent other than "i s the rent affordable?" Benefits should be taken into account as a valid source of income and tenant referencing companies should only be able to report on a binary yes/no basis if the tenant can afford the rent, without prejudice based on their income. This would mean that people like me don’t feel like they are constantly having to justify themselves, their income or their disability.

8 - Not a single landlord or letting agent said they would accept a c ouncil bond of £2500 for a d eposit of approximately £1500, rendering council bonds utterly useless. Every agent said they would let me when a suitable property came up. Well, it's n ow October 2024 , more than two years on from when I first started looking and I have not had a single call from any of them. I haven’t de-registered with any of them. As far as they are concerned, I am still looking.

9 - In mid-January 2023, two weeks before the eviction date I got lucky. A landlord on O pen R ent essentially took pity on me and we moved into the new property on the eviction date of 29th January. It could not have been cut any finer. My then 16-year-old son and myself were facing the imminent possibility of being shunted off to a B&B who knows where. I had to borrow £2500 - to cove r the 5-week deposit and one months rent in advance - so I am now in debt which I am struggling to pay back. All because of an eviction that was no fault of our own.

10 - Being told you are not worthy of simple accommodation every day does funny things to one’s mental health. It is not an exaggeration to say that I went to some very dark places in those 6 months. That feeling of unworthiness extends to every area of your life, which further deteriorates your mental health.

11 - I feel that government can do far, far more to help disabled people on benefits with finding accommodation. Firstly and most obviousl y, the lack of social housing has forced a large number of people into an exploitative private rent ing market. You can paper over some of the cracks and trim around the edges but until there is a ready supply of social housing for people that need it the issue will keep coming up.

12 - Given that investing in a suitable supply of social housing is not a short-term solutio n, there are a number of other measures I believe will at least alleviate some of the pain of private renting for people who have a limited capability for work.

13 - Local Housing Allowance should be at a rate that reflects the actual rents in an area. I have seen studio apartments advertised for more than my 2-bed LHA. I have recently started seeing rooms in a shared house for the same amount as my 2-bed LHA, albeit these tend to include bills. I also feel that some sort of rent control is needed to ensure that the reality of rent prices and LHA sync up. Without some kind of ceiling which stops rents increasing beyond what is affordable for renters, we will continuously be forced out of our homes.

14 - Landlords and letting agents should have to accept council bonds, or what’s the point of them? In reality, a council bond is just a sign saying, "I’m on benefits" and then the usual barriers are put in place.

15 - A blanket ban on "No benefits / No DSS" policies will change nothing in my view, as landlords and agents can continue to say things like "We would prefer a professional couple" or continue to make unreasonable demands for a guarantors, multiple months’ rent in advance and refusal of a council bond. It is my very strong view that government needs to change not just the laws, but the whole culture and attitudes of the private renting sector. Discrimination needs to be acknowledged as the serious offence that it is, because of the devastating impact it has on people's lives. When fines for breaching the rules are low enough for larger landlords to simply write off as a business expense, it's hard to imagine that those hell-bent on breaking the rules will ever take them seriously.

16 - I would now like to speak about the widespread, discriminatory practice of th e demand for guarantors in th is sector.

17 - I n the past , parents would act as guarantor for their child's first shared house. I did so myself back in 2008. I was earning below the national average and did not own a property, but this was not a barrier back then. Unfortunately, the insistence of a guarantor has become ubiquitous in recent times for all ages and properties for low- and medium-income households, and the guarantor criteria has severely tightened. In my experience, a guarantor now must either own a property or have 3 years’ worth of the rent in savings. All this for a contract that can currently be broken after 6 months via a Section 21.

18 - As a prospective tenant, you will most likely be asked for a guarantor if your annual income is below 30x monthly advertised rent. Based on average advertised rent being £1,344 outside of London and £2,694 in London, you would have to earn (annually) £40,300 and £80,800, respectively. (Source: Rightmove.com).

19 - These affordability thresholds are a huge barrier for a significant proportion of private rent ing tenants, exceeding the national average wage and far exceeding the national living wage.

20 - As a disabled volunteer who relies on benefits, on the two recent occasions where I was served with a section 21 notice, that I wrote about above, I was made to feel undeserving of the luxury of a roof over my head. I am in my 50s, both of my parents are deceased and I don’t know anyone who owns their own house. The only options available to me were to find a kind landlord who wouldn't insist on a guarantor, or to pay a company upwards of £1,000 simply to put their name on the form. Luckily, I found a kind landlord at the last minute, which prevented myself and my then 16-year-old son becoming homeless. There are many who aren't so lucky, and end up in expensive, often out-of-area temporary accommodation, which is bad for everyone. A recent news story said that Surrey councils are currently paying tens of millions on temporary accommodation every year. I dread to think what that figure is for London, Birmingham, Manchester or Liverpool councils!

21 - I recently managed to have a frank conversation with a letting agent about the use of guarantors. I was told that guarantors act as an easy , free insurance policy for landlords. When I asked how many times they have actually had to recover unpaid rent from a guarantor, I was told they had never had to and that the preference is to serve a section 21 for ease. It's a head scratcher as to why this policy has become so standardised in the first place! It feels like the purpose of asking for a guarantor is to serve as a smokescreen for landlords discriminating against certain socioeconomic groups, rather than to insure a landlord against a loss. The same letting agent also told me that landlords are well aware that more traditional forms of insurance to protect against loss of rent are available, but the impact on their bottom line makes guarantors a more attractive option. In any case, landlords who take out insurance will just pass that cost on to their tenants. As a private renter, it is galling to feel like I am funding someone else's retirement.

22 - I strongly believe that the widespread and unfettered use of guarantors is extremely discriminatory. It has a huge impact on the majority of low- and medium-income households, not to mention anyone on benefits; including many disabled people and families that, for whatever reason, don't have two full-time salaries above the national living wage coming in. The ideal tenant appears to be a childless, pet-less professional couple, who earn enough to get a mortgage ; so are unlikely to want to private rent anyway! Most people who live in the private rent ing sector do not do so out of choice, quite the contrary. In fact, it is a lack of choice that forces people into the private renting sector trap and, once in, it is nigh on impossible to get out.

Thank you for reading. I would welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you may have or to go into further detail in person.

Yours sincerely,

David Lockyer .

October 2024.