The past week has been very significant for Crisis in our key Home. No less will do campaign which calls on the Government to fund Help to Rent projects, and a national rent deposit scheme ahead of the Budget statement on 22 November.

We only have a few weeks to get our call of this funding across to minister, and so the policy and public affairs team has been busy contacting parliamentarians from all the main parties to explain how these proposals not only help tenants to access the Private Rented Sector, but can also provide reassurance to landlords through support and financial guarantees. These projects also help those on Universal Credit make the transition to the new system, and lessen the risk of landlords facing rent arrears by providing advanced payments, and support in navigating the more complex and negative elements of the new benefit.  

As part of this campaign, we arranged a photo call in Westminster last week, organised by Bob Blackman MP, and attended by parliamentarians from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties, demonstrating that the debate on how we help homeless people access the private rented sector is truly a cross party issue. This was followed by a photo call with a number of other MPs to promote Help to Rent through social media using the #HelptoRent hashtag, which you can see on our twitter page. We have also been holding a series of meetings with backbench and frontbench MPs, and persuaded around 20 MPs to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

There is no doubt that our campaign is starting to gather pace in Westminster. A couple of MPs recently tabled Parliamentary Questions on Help to Rent, and the issue was also raised at Prime Minister’s Question Time by Bob Blackman MP. We need to maintain this support, and get as many people to write to the Chancellor as possible over the next two weeks, and you can take our action here.

The good news is that there are signs the Government are beginning to address some of the issues facing vulnerable tenants, and we recently had the welcome announcement that Local Housing Allowance rates would no longer be applied to social housing, including supported housing.   

However, if it is to take that major step toward achieving its own stated ambition of halving, and eventually eliminating rough sleeping, the Government must make a modest commitment to fund the schemes that will help to open doors for those who currently have no place to call home, and provide the assurance and support private landlords seek. The Chancellor’s Budget speech provides the perfect opportunity for them to do just that.