Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of tenants in rent debt since the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.

Data from the EHS Household Resilience Survey June-July 2020 suggests that around 7 per cent of PRS households are in rent arrears compared to around 3 per cent pre-COVID. 5 per cent of private renters had spoken to their landlords and agreed a rent holiday and a further 6 per cent had spoken to their landlords and agreed a rent reduction. The vast majority of tenants are meeting their rental commitments

The Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support which is available to tenants. The Coronavirus Job Reception Scheme and the wider package of economic support measures are supporting private renters to continue paying their rent.