The Resolution Foundation Housing Outlook - Housing cost pressures are currently more severe than during the pandemic

To put this into context, the level of housing cost pressure observed in November 2022 was markedly higher than in a wave of our survey conducted at the peak of the second Covid-19 lockdown (January 2021) – despite the fact that a significant portion of the economy was closed at that point. [...] Mortgagors also experienced the most significant rise in signs of housing stress compared to the pandemic period (from 27 per cent reporting either falling behind or struggling with housing costs in January 2021, compared to 50 per cent in November 2022) - albeit still reporting housing stress at a much lower level to renters overall.6 These tenure differences mean that the experience of housing s. [...] While many more people are struggling with their housing costs than during the pandemic, the proportion of mortgagors who had received support from their mortgage provider is less than one-third of the level it was during the Covid-19 period (11 per cent compared to 3 per cent), and the proportion reporting rent reductions has halved (6 per cent to 3 per cent). [...] 10 Of course, much of the Government support for households during the cost of living crisis has happened on the income side such as the Energy Price Guarantee and Cost of Living payments. [...] But Government support remains thin on the ground to support private renters struggling with their housing costs.12 This is in stark contrast to the plethora of measures introduced during the pandemic, including the freezing of evictions, the rebasing of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates and the formal provision of mortgage holidays.