The above graph shows that in 2019-20 the risk of poverty was twice as great (1,238,000 people) for people in households renting privately than for home purchasers (492,000 people) and homeowners (1,004,000 people), reflecting the higher cost and/or lower incomes of people in private rental housing.
Poverty is even higher among tenants in public housing (311,000 people), mostly due to the lower incomes of this group. It is also high, at 275,000 people, in ‘other’ tenures including community housing.
Almost half (1,549,000 people) of those in poverty were either tenants in private rentals or public housing.
Among people in households renting privately, approximately 1,935,000 people in households receiving CRA were in poverty, compared with approximately 4,110,000 private tenants without Rent Assistance.
Similarly, among people in ‘other’ housing tenures, approximately 393,000 people in these households receiving CRA were in poverty. On the other hand, only 1,085,000 people in ‘other’ tenures who did not receive CRA were in poverty.
Poverty fell substantially in the final quarter of 2019-20 (by 383,000 people) among people renting their homes, who as indicated faced a much higher risk of poverty in the first place.
Among homeowners and purchasers, poverty rose slightly by 80,000 people among people without a mortgage and fell slightly by 163,000 people among those with a mortgage.