It has been reported that a rising number of people across the UK are now struggling to keep on top of their rent payments, with rents having soared over recent months leaving many people unable to afford the payments. On top of this renters have had to put up with soaring living costs, with the cost of food, petrol, energy usage and more having gone up over the past twelve months.

One leading debt charity has said that it has seen an increase of 84 percent since the onset of the recession in the number of people that are getting in contact with regards to problems with rent arrears. Officials from National Debtline have said that figures have been increasing dramatically partly due to the soaring number of people that are going into rented accommodation each year because they cannot get a mortgage to get their own property.

Since 2005 the number of people that are renting homes in England is said to have increased by a massive 40 percent according to the English Housing Survey, which was carried out earlier this year. Demand for rental homes has been outstripping supply for some time now and this has helped to push the cost of renting even higher, putting struggling consumers in an even worse situation in terms of their finances.

Joanna Elson OBE, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, said: ‘A few years ago many people in today’s rent market would be planning on buying their first home, but now it seems they are struggling to even pay the rent. On top of those people who call National Debtline with specific problems in affording the rent, there will be even more who are cutting back sharply elsewhere to make sure they can cover rent payments. This in turn can lead to other debt problems, with credit cards, overdrafts and loans being relied upon to pay for food and other essentials.’