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Private renters twice as likely as homeowners to have anxiety

According to research that finds clear evidence of the links between financial insecurity and poor mental health, private renters are twice as likely as homeowners to suffer anxiety symptoms.

In a report called Anxiety Nation, researchers from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) think tank found that people with money problems were significantly more likely to report suffering sleepless nights, feeling depressed, and lacking in energy.

These were among 12 symptoms associated with anxiety, which analysis of a mass of survey data showed was more prevalent in people with low incomes, few or no savings, or insecure work.

“Too many people are caught up in a vicious cycle in which mental distress impedes confidence, leading to problems at work, which can, in turn, lead to issues with debt, housing and even relationships, leading to still more worry,” said Tom Clark, a JRF fellow and the report’s co-author.

“The government needs to wake up to the reality of the twin problems of insecurity and anxiety, which are doing great harm to both national economic welfare and individual wellbeing.”

One of the clearest links the researchers found was between housing tenure and mental health. Private renters were at least twice as likely as homeowners to report 10 of the 12 symptoms, including feeling depressed, under strain and worthless.

The report suggests that the private rental market has doubled in size since 2000 – a shift that has been “one of the great engines of insecurity in our time”. Tenants enjoy few protections against surging rents and insecure tenancies.

Dan Wilson Craw, deputy director of the tenants’ campaign group Generation Rent, said: “Being a private renter is terrible for your mental health. You have very little control over your housing situation.

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