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Crisis and Zoopla partnership

Everybody should have a safe place to live.

We've joined forces with property platform Zoopla because we believe everyone in Great Britain should have a stable place to call home.

 

Together, we're calling for more affordable homes for people struggling to make ends meet, and providing guidance and support for the public on how best to support people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.

'Falling short: Housing benefit and the rising cost of renting in England' (August 2022, Zoopla and Crisis)

Crisis and Zoopla have joined forces on an in-depth look at the actual cost of renting in England - and found the government is drastically underestimating the shortfall between housing benefit and the cost of rents. 

 

Executive summary

 

    • Low-income renters across England are facing a ‘housing black hole’ due to soaring rents and the freeze on housing benefit leaving a huge shortfall in genuinely affordable homes.
    • At the start of 2022, one in four private renters in England (1.2 million households) were reliant on housing benefit to keep a roof over their heads. By contrast, new analysis of Zoopla listings data finds that fewer than one in eight properties available for rent last year were affordable to those in receipt of housing benefit, leaving tens of thousands facing shortfalls in rent amidst a cost of living crisis.
    • Average monthly rental prices are now 12% higher than they were before the pandemic, but housing benefit has remained frozen since March 2020 and is based on rents from 2018-19. In May of this year, the Westminster Government committed to increase other means-tested benefits in line with inflation in April 2023, but it has so far ignored housing benefit.
    • The shortfalls between housing benefit payments and rents are more than double what the most recent Government figures suggest – with low-income renters being forced to find, on average, an additional £648 for a one-bed, £1,052 for a two-bed and £1,655 for a three-bed a year compared to £313, £371 and £498, respectively.
    • In almost 50% of local authorities, fewer than 20 such properties listed were affordable to people receiving housing benefit in the last year. This is despite 44% of private renters being singles or couples with no children and for who a one bed property would be the most suitable.
    • Crisis and Zoopla are joining together to call on the government to urgently invest in housing benefit at the autumn budget if it wants to prevent thousands from being pushed into homelessness.

 

To download the full report, click on the image below. If you have any questions, please get in touch with ella.dinsdale@crisis.org.uk.

 

 

The Crisis and Zoopla partnership

Crisis are working together with Zoopla in a multi-year partnership to involve staff in exciting and creative fundraising challenges across Great Britain, in addition to volunteering opportunities as part of our annual Christmas project, network of year-round Skylight centres and Shops from Crisis.

We will raise awareness of the causes of, and solutions to, homelessness among Zoopla’s staff, enabling them to challenge stereotypes around homelessness in their wider networks and take practical steps towards ending it for good.

For our partnership launch, we are so grateful to be working side by side with Zoopla to co-publish analysis of the housing and benefits landscape in England. Together, we will use this research to highlight the need for urgent government support for people at risk of being pushed into homelessness due to the cost of living crisis.

 

How will Crisis and Zoopla work together?

Over the next year, Crisis and Zoopla will work together to:

  • Call for there to be enough housing available so that people on low incomes can afford to keep their tenancy without pushing themselves to the financial brink. We will advocate for local housing allowance rates to be set at the right level and for increased investment in and supply of social homes.
  • Campaign together to increase the public’s understanding of homelessness and of the different ways they can support people experiencing homelessness right now.
  • Engage Zoopla employees in raising funds directly for Crisis and in volunteering opportunities to support Crisis’ Skylight centres, annual Crisis at Christmas project and Shop from Crisis operations across Great Britain.
  • Provide support for Crisis’ Venture Studio, which invests in, builds and scales ventures that aim to end homelessness.

 

Practical guides on how you can help end homelessness

Zoopla and Crisis are inviting the public, landlords and letting agents to find out how they can play a part in supporting people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.

We've created two handy guides, one for the general public and one for landlords and letting agents, to provide practical advice and guidance on what you can do to help people experiencing homelessness.

To download the guides, click on the images below. If you have any questions, please get in touch with ella.dinsdale@crisis.org.uk

 

 

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