Thousands of working council tenants in rent arrears

Thousands of working people in Nottingham are in significant rent arrears, new figures from the city council show.

As of March this year, 23% of all council tenants – about 5,357 people – were in arrears totalling £2.6m.

Nottingham City Council said many people were unable to pay rent due to high levels of poverty, with the city ranking 18th out of 296 local authority areas for deprivation.

Gary Bulmer, operations director of community interest company Evolve Nottingham CIC, based at Strelley Community Centre, said more working people were coming to them for help, adding: "They are struggling with meeting normal basic needs around housing, and food, and staying warm and dry."

Of the tenants in arrears in Nottingham, almost 4,000 were not claiming Universal Credit or housing benefits, which councillors said points to a national problem with wages.

The median gross annual wage for people in Nottingham working full-time was approximately £27,000 in 2022, compared to £33,200 in England.

However, about 20% of full-time workers earned less than £20,900 per year, while 30% earned below £22,400, the data from the authority showed.

During a housing meeting on Monday, independent city councillor Kevin Clarke said: "It is nearly 4,000 people that are not claiming some form of benefit for housing – so I was going to ask are they people who are mainly at work?

"Because if they are that is really concerning. If they are going to work and they are not even able to afford to pay rent, then there is something nationally wrong."

Charlotte McGraw, strategic director of housing at the authority, said: "That is often the group, we see this through the food banks as well, that struggles the most.

"It is not necessarily something that is particularly easy to fix. You are right, it is a national issue. Whatever we can do we will provide that support, that is what the team is there for. But the very fact they are working can in itself cause issues. It is a vicious circle really."

Bulmer told the BBC people who are struggling can often be just a few pounds over the threshold to qualify for benefits, which means they can not access support.

Evolve Nottingham CIC provides a warm hub, food and an advice centre, where people can access help with their bills.

Bulmer said: "It's not the people you would normally assume who are seeking help because they can't work or have a disability, it's a lot of working people who are struggling to make ends meet."

The council said its tenancy sustainment team works to help people who may be in arrears, before any stricter court action takes place.

According to figures, rent arrears were reduced by almost £500,000 last year.

The council has also given out £1.26m from its hardship fund to 712 tenants to help them with their finances, with 88 tenants being supported to downsize their homes to reduce rent.

Jay Hayes, executive member for housing at the authority, said: "We do encourage all of our tenants to come speak to us if there has been a change in circumstances.

"We also recognise that sometimes our tenants can feel a bit embarrassed if they have lost their job or have been made redundant or they get in rent arrears.

"They feel if they do speak up there will be bad consequences. So we are trying to remove that stigma and say if you do have issues, challenges or issues with your finances, the most appropriate thing is to come and talk to us at an earlier stage because we can support that person."

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