Renters' calls for help to housing charity have doubled

There has been a record rise in calls for help from renters worried about losing their homes, says Shelter.

More than 7,600 renters at risk of losing their home called the housing charity for advice in the last year. Two years ago the figure was 3,997.

The report comes as Shelter campaigns to protect renters from ‘revenge evictions’. It says more than 213,000 people have been served an eviction notice or evicted in the last year after asking their private landlord to fix a problem in their home.

"This is yet more evidence of the shocking reality that renters across the country are facing every day," said Campbell Robb, Shelter's chief executive. "With soaring house prices pushing homeownership further out of reach, more of us are forced to set up home in rented properties that are expensive, insecure and often in poor conditions.

“Calls to our helpline from renters are soaring and revenge evictions are becoming all too common. Private renting is close to crisis point. This can’t go on."