Page 34 - Londra Gazete Sayı 1101

Londra Gazete, 14 April 2022 LondraGazete.com/English 7

One in eight private rented homes

poses ‘serious threat’ to occupants’

MORE than one in eight pri-
vately rented homes in England
pose a “serious threat” to the
health and safety of their occu-
Shop sales slow as people rein pants, a damning report has re-
vealed.
in spending The House of Commons Pub-
lic Accounts Committee found
SALES in shops have slowed as still unclear how the rising financial fast-rising rents and low stand-
household budgets come under pres- pressures on consumers would affect ards in the private sector mean
sure from the rising cost of living, their spending. that “safe, suitable housing is too
the British Retail Consortium (BRC) Inflation has risen at its fastest often out of reach for renters”.
has said. rate for 30 years, people in the UK And they said that illness and
Its figures show sales growth for are facing increased pressure from injuries resulting from category
March rose by 3.1%, the smallest in- living costs. Fuel, energy and food one-rated health hazards – which
crease so far this year and down from prices have seen some of the biggest could include risks such as elec-
a 6.7% rise in February. increases. tric faults, dangerous stairways,
It comes as millions are having to The rate at which prices rise has carbon monoxide leaks or struc-
deal with higher energy bills and tax- been forecast to reach 8.7% in the tural weaknesses – were costing now houses 11m people, said the legal right to a safe and secure
es. The BRC said pressure on people's final three months of 2022, which the NHS £340m a year. report. Private tenants spend an home, they face “an inaccessible,
finances and the war in Ukraine had A “postcode lottery” in stand- average 32 per cent of their in- arduous and resource-intensive
"shaken consumer confidence". means households may be forced to ards saw as many as 21 per cent – come on their accommodation, court process and the risk of re-
Helen Dickinson, chief executive cut back. more than one in five – of private compared to 18 per cent for own- taliatory eviction”, the report
of the BRC, said customers faced The figures from the BRC-KPMG rented homes in Yorkshire and er-occupiers and 27 per cent for found. The cross-party commit-
"an enormous challenge this year" retail sales monitor showed that the Humber presenting a serious tee also found evidence of unlaw-
around their finances, which was overall sales fell by 0.4% in March threat to health, compared to 9 those in social housing. The re-
"likely to be reflected in retail spend from 12 months earlier. per cent in London. port found that many tenants ful discrimination in the sector,
in the future". Food sales for the month fell year- As escalating house prices have were reluctant to complain about with 25 per cent of landlords
Online fashion giant Asos said on on-year and online sales for non- taken home ownership out of the health and safety risks in their unwilling to let to non-British
Tuesday that its sales forecasts for food items also decreased by 29%, reach of many Britons, the pri- homes because of fear of “no- passport holders and 52 per cent
the next few months carried great- compared with growth of 64.7% the vate rental sector has doubled in fault” eviction. refusing to take tenants on Hous-
er uncertainty than usual as it was year before. size over the past 20 years and When trying to enforce their ing Benefit.