Households across the UK are increasingly turning to crowdfunding to cover their rent, with the number of such campaigns on GoFundMe soaring by 60 percent since 2022. More than 100,000 people now donate each month to help others meet housing costs.
Personal Stories of Struggle
Andrew Foster, 51, told The Guardian he started using the crowdfunding platform after his rent increased by 50 percent. “The only way I could find the funds to cover the move was to turn to GoFundMe, although I had to take out a loan as well,” he said.
Another user, a 33-year-old Birmingham resident, raised £2,421 from friends and family through the website. A spokesperson for GoFundMe commented that the trend shows “when someone finds the courage to ask for help, their community shows up for them.”
The Cost of Rent Day
This surge comes as renters in England face their “cost of rent day” around this time of year, according to Generation Rent and the Renters’ Reform Coalition. This marks the point when all of a renter’s annual income to date has been consumed by rent payments.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures indicate that private renters on a median household income in England spend about 36 percent of their income on an average-priced rented home. In major cities, the cost of rent day arrives later: London renters typically wait until June 2, while those in Bristol face June 13.
Campaigners Call for Action
Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “High rents trap people in homelessness and suck money out of local communities. It’s not right that over four months of our income every year is being swallowed up by landlords.”
Clara Collingwood, director at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, added: “While section 21 evictions have finally been banned in England, for many renters unaffordable rent increases will have exactly the same effect, forcing people out of their homes and communities.”
One London renter quoted by campaigners said: “Both my husband and I are working full-time, I even work another job on the weekends, but we have no money left over at the end of each month. The fairytale of working hard to be able to buy a home is gone.”
Government Response
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson stated: “Our Renters’ Rights Act is giving millions of tenants stronger rights and more security in their homes. That includes stronger powers to challenge rent increases that are above market rate, meaning they can live without fear of their landlord unfairly hiking rent.”
