In the past year, the experience of Housing Rights’ advice services has been one of imbalance. The private rented sector (PRS) is overrepresented in comparison to its tenure share of the market. The PRS accounts for approximately 17% of Northern Ireland’s total housing stock. Of the total number of calls to Housing Rights for help, advice, and support, 33% come from private tenants, indicating disproportionate pressures on tenants in this sector.
As the housing crisis deepens, private renters are increasingly contacting Housing Rights for help. An analysis of the themes emerging from these calls reveals two prominent issues which private rented tenants who call Housing Rights for help and support are experiencing at disproportionately higher rates.
The first of these is affordability. Increasingly, tenants are struggling to find an affordable tenancy in a house that meets their needs. These affordability issues are apparent in the cost of rent increases for existing tenancies and in the cost of accessing new tenancies. This aligns with recent trends in the private rented sector, where rents have been rapidly rising since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The second major issue reported by renters in their calls to Housing Rights has been that of standards and repairs. Damp and mould are consistently one of the most common issues reported to Housing Rights by private tenants, alongside repairs and maintenance issues. As organisations invested in supporting the voices of tenants, Housing Rights, in partnership with the Northern Ireland Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDSNI), launched the “Private Renters Affordability” & the “Repair and Standards” survey to collate tenants' experiences in the PRS in Northern Ireland.
This report outlines the survey's findings, details the methodology used, and situates it within the current policy context of a turbulent sector being buffeted by the broader housing crisis.