Private renters ‘are bearing the brunt of government dithering over urgently needed private rental reforms’, the homeless charity Shelter has claimed.

This is because tenants who complain about their accommodation are more likely to be handed an eviction notice than those who do not, it said. In the last three years the increased likelihood has been over one and a half times.

‘Due to the lack of regulation in private renting, millions of tenants are trapped in a ‘catch-22’ situation whereby they either put up with poor conditions, or risk being kicked out for complaining’, according to Shelter. ‘Shockingly, a quarter of private renters – just over 2m people – have not asked their landlord for repairs to be carried out or conditions improved for fear of being evicted’.

‘By dragging its heels on the Renters Reform Bill, the Government has left private renters in a terrible catch 22 – they either shut up and put up with disrepair, or risk more than doubling their chances of eviction in a cost of living crisis’, said Shelter chief executive Polly Neate.

‘Day in day out Shelter hears from people who are forking out huge sums on rent while living in nightmarish conditions because private renting is woefully under-regulated. It is a travesty that so many private renters are too afraid to complain about the mould growing all over their kids’ clothes, or the water pouring in through broken window frames, in case it costs them their home’.