Private landlords and welfare reforms in England and Wales: Shifting roles, risks and responsibilities

Recent Governments in the UK, Labour, Coalition and Conservative, have all introduced housing-related welfare reforms that affect the private rented sector (PRS). Including the roll-out of Local Housing Allowance (LHA), the cap and then freeze to LHA, the expansion of the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) and most recently the introduction of Universal Credit. The objectives of these reforms are varied, including reducing the cost to the state, being more transparent, but also devolving control and responsibility to claimants.

Drawing on a survey of 2,229 private landlords across England and Wales, this paper examines the response to and impact of welfare reforms on private landlords. The paper further examines the reasons why landlords are unwilling to let to benefit claimants, the measures that would encourage them to continue in this area of the PRS, and the potential conflict between these measures and the policy objective of devolving control and responsibility to claimants. Finally, the paper will consider the changing role of private landlords, the blurring of responsibility of private/state provision, and the implications of the findings for policy and practice.