A shocking one in three low-earning renters in Britain have had to borrow money to cover their rent, new research has revealed.
People are being driven into debt to keep on top of their rent, with over half a million low-earning renters borrowing from credit cards, overdrafts or friends and family in the last year alone.
According to Shelter and YouGov, huge numbers of low-earning private renters are only just managing to keep a roof over their heads, with a staggering 70% either struggling with or falling behind on rent.
It also revealed that 800,000 private renters are not even able to save £10 a month.
With a general election less than a month away, the charity is calling for a new generation of living rent homes for ordinary working families, and urging the next government to invest in half a million of these over the course of the next parliament.
Anne Baxendale, director of communications, policy and campaigns at Shelter, said: “It just isn’t right that so many hard-working private renters are having to take on desperate or dangerous debts just to keep a roof over their heads.
“No family should have to choose between relying on their credit card to keep up with the rent or moving miles away from their jobs and schools to find a home they can actually afford.
“Right now there’s nowhere for these people to turn but it doesn’t have to be this way. The next government must commit to building half a million new living rent homes to genuinely help ordinary families to get by and give them a firmer foundation for the future.”
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