Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

The private rented sector (PRS) plays an important and expanding role in housing low income households in the UK. As of March 2018, up to 27,000 of the 80,720 (33%) households in temporary accommodation in England were housed in the PRS, compared with up to 8,500 of the 64,000 (13%) households in 2008. In 2016-17, 22% of people in the PRS in England received housing benefit. Housing benefit payments to private landlords in 2017 were £8.8b and accounted for 36% of housing benefit payments.

The PRS ranges in quality, with health and safety requirements variably enforced. Although housing quality is known to be a determinant of a range of social outcomes, particularly health outcomes, surprisingly little research has addressed what, if any, affect the expanding role of the PRS in housing those in receipt of housing benefits has had.

This research uses data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS, aka Understanding Society) which has followed a large, nationally representative sample since 2008. Approximately 3,000 households at each wave can be identified as in receipt of housing assistance. This study asks whether health, employment, and financial outcomes differ for these households depending on whether they are in PRS or social housing, and whether these trends have changed over time.