Almost one in two (45%), equivalent to 4.8m private renters, are living with cold, damp or mould, even in summer, according to new research from Citizens Advice. With close to half (48%) of them have been living with these issues for over a year.

The charity is urging the government to tackle the generational decline in living standards for renters, as new data shows that private renters are some of the worst affected.

They are, according to the charity, forced to pay skyrocketing rents despite living in poor housing conditions. According to the charity’s analysis renters on a low income are spending up to 53% of their income on energy and housing costs this year. That’s compared with 46% of those living in social housing and 40% of those who own their homes.

Adding, this is pushing private renters to breaking point, with a third of private renters in England (32%, equivalent to 3.4 million) having had to borrow money to cover their rent, and 17% have gone without heating, hot water, or electricity to do so.

Precarious living

The double whammy of unaffordability and poor quality housing in the private rental sector is made worse by tenants’ lack of protection and security. Renters live with the constant threat of losing their homes and lack the proper processes to challenge their landlord. This leaves them running the risk of receiving a retaliatory eviction when they do speak up.

This fear is very real and Citizens Advice is helping almost 100 people a day with section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions. More than a third of renters (37%) who have lived with damp, cold or mould say they’ve never complained to their landlord, with 51% citing the fear of retaliation, including eviction or a rent increase, as the reason.

Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: “A warm, safe home, free of damp and mould should be a fundamental right. Yet private renters are paying through the roof for increasingly decrepit housing which eats up their hard-earned cash and puts their health at risk.

“To make matters worse, renters have little power and live with the constant threat of eviction hanging over their heads. 

“The government must follow through on its promises and improve the lives of private renters. This means raising the quality of privately rented housing, tackling runaway rents, and bringing in a watertight ban of section 21 evictions so renters aren’t afraid to challenge poor conditions.”