Holding on to home: tenancy sustainment in social housing

The research will explore tenancy sustainment in social housing. It will focus on the experiences of tenants receiving an income-related housing allowance through Universal Credit (UC) or Housing Benefit.

The Social Rented Sector (SRS) houses some of the UK’s most vulnerable and poorest households. Historically, some SRS tenants have found it difficult to sustain their tenancies, resulting in them accruing rent arrears. Accruing rent arrears is the main reason tenancies fail.

Most research on the cause of rent arrears accrual was conducted in the 1980s/1990s, with the most recent study being completed in 2014. This is problematic because it appears that more tenants are finding it difficult to pay their rent, as new drivers of rents arrears emerge and existing ones play out differently.

This is because the context within which tenants pay their rent has changed significantly in recent years. Key developments include: the continued roll-out of the welfare reform, UC, and the impact of other reforms ‘biting’; the COVID-19 pandemic and the lifting of temporary measures designed to mitigate its impact (furlough, the UC payment uplift, and the suspension on evictions); and rapidly rising living costs.

By exploring the behaviours of tenants and landlords, the research will provide evidence and guidance which will improve landlords’ tenancy sustainment policies and practices, making it easier for tenants to pay their rent and fewer tenancies failing. The study’s principal objectives are to:

1. Identify the factors that impact on tenants’ ability to pay their rent, paying particular attention to identifying those that result in rent arrears accrual.
2. Identify which population groups are most likely to experience difficulties paying their rent.
3. Examine the impact of welfare reforms on tenants’ ability to pay their rent.
4. Identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tenants’ ability to sustain their tenancies.
5. Examine how landlords’ approaches to tenancy sustainment impact on tenants’ ability to pay their rent, in doing so, assessing the extent to which they are compatible with the circumstances and behaviours of their tenants.

The research is inter-disciplinary, drawing-on housing studies, social policy, and psychology. It is mixed-methods comprising: a tenant survey, which will be carried out by Qa Research; in-depth interviews with tenants and ‘stakeholders’; a tenant diary-keeping exercise; conversation analysis of landlord/tenant communications; documentary/secondary data analysis; and rent account analysis. A Tenant Steering Group will oversee all aspects of the research. The inclusion of the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Housing Quality Network in the project team will ensure that the research has impact and reach.

The study’s written outputs will be: an evidence review of the drivers of rent arrears accrual; learning reports; an interim report; a final report; a good practice guide on tenancy sustainment for social housing landlords; blogs; articles in professional journals; and open-access refereed journal articles.

An interactive website will showcase the study’s findings and be a mechanism for engaging with research participants.