Two in five people living with their children in privately rented homes have a tenancy of six months or less, said Citizens Advice.
The charity said this is unacceptable and is calling for a major overhaul of the private rented sector.
Analysis by Citizens Advice finds that one in three (34%) private renters would like their tenancy to be longer, rising to two in five (39%) among those with children.
Families now make up almost four in ten private rented households.
Based on a YouGov survey, the latest Citizens Advice figures also reveal that four in five (79%) private renters with children have experienced problems with the quality of their home including rodent infestations, broken heating and no hot water.
While in many of these cases the landlord addressed the problems within month, in over a quarter of instances (27%) the problem took longer than this to resolve. And where these renters had spent their own time or money fixing a problem, half (50%) were not refunded for this by their landlord.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “The challenges of living in the private rented sector can be even more acute for people with children.
“Families are living under a cloud of uncertainty – not knowing when they might need to leave their home. This can make planning for the future, such as where your child can go to school, a real struggle. Many families who have been enjoying the Christmas break may have to move out of their home before the summer holidays start.
“With home ownership on the decline, the private rented sector in England is in need of a major overhaul.
“While there are signs of progress – such as the ban on letting agent fees – action is needed to improve security of tenure for private tenants as well as the quality of private rented homes.”
Comments (4)
Alternatively: Analysis by Citizens Advice finds that two in three (66%) private renters do NOT want their tenancy to be longer, falling to three in five (61%) among those with children.
In my experience, many good negs want long tenancies and more commission but it is the tenants who thwart this cunning plan by wanting flexibility and to escape a landlord who doesn’t meet their expectations.
I don’t know many landlords that wouldnt comit to a longer tenancy after an initial 12 month period, perhaps just accidental landlords, and I also know that issues tenants face quiet often are ones they created rather than problems with the property or landlord, only a small % is landlord related and a good agent would disinstruct themselves from such landlord and wouldnt face a charity at it’s door claiming to be the know it all! We need to shout more about the good stuff that happens!
The so called charities only deal with people that have problems and therefore have a distorted view of the overall position.
It’s good to ‘Call for an Overhaul’, but instead of finding the problem, find the solution! note: going back to The Rent Act 1977 is not the answer.