Many 'struggle to meet house costs'
Updated on 19 June 2008
Millions of people find paying for housing a constant struggle, with many taking on debt in a bid to stay in their home, a report has said.
The high cost of housing is driving people to borrow money on credit cards or from family and friends in order to meet mortgage or rent payments, while more than half of households have been forced to cut back on other things in order to make ends meet, according to housing charity Shelter.
The group said nearly a quarter of all households said high housing costs caused them stress or depression, with one in six people saying they worried about losing their home.
One in 12 people said meeting their housing costs was a constant struggle, while 2% said they were falling behind with rent or mortgage payments.
Around 11% of people admitted they had had to borrow money to meet their housing costs during the past 12 months, with half borrowing from family and friends and half taking out loans, while a further 16% had used a credit card to meet their housing costs.
A quarter of people said they had spent less on food in a bid to meet their mortgage or rent payments, one in nine people had sold possessions, one in 11 had spent less on clothing for their children and 10% had taken on an additional job.
The group's report, Breaking Point, found that around one million households spent more than two-thirds of their income on housing.
Nearly one in 10 households said they could not afford to live near their family, 11% were unable to live near their work, 14% said they were living in a house that was too small for them and 15% said they could not afford essential repairs.
Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson said: "Our new report and campaign show just how difficult it is for ordinary people to cope with spiralling housing costs, and how desperately unaffordable housing has become.
Launching its Now Is The Time campaign, the group set out a 12 point plan to tackle the affordability crisis. These measures include calling on the Government to carry out its promise to build three million new homes by 2020 and to meet its target of building 45,000 social rented homes every year by 2011.
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