The private rental sector is picking up the slack for millions of people reliant on social housing in England, U.K., due to central government and local authorities delivering inadequate levels of support for affordable housing.
Research conducted by Bunk, a private housing letting and management platform for landlords, has found that over 1.1 million remained on local authority social housing waiting lists in the U.K. — a greater number than that registered in 2002.
Despite the dire shortage in affordable living in the U.K., the total number of homes reaching the social rental sector has barely grown, up just 0.07 percent since 2013. At the same time, the number of homes being rented in the social sector through local authorities has actually dropped by 5.29 percent since 2013, as councils have offloaded the responsibility to private enterprises and housing associations.
During the same time period, the number of private rental properties has increased by 7
