Higher rents pose threat to children

Children's lives are being damaged by living in rented property, research released today says, as families across the country are being uprooted or left homeless by escalating rental costs.

One in five families now rent privately but many contracts are for only six or 12 months, leaving them at the mercy of landlords who can raise rents and turf out those who cannot afford new rates.

One in 10 renting families have had to change their children's school in the past five years because they had to move home. Renting families are nine times more likely to have moved in the past year than those who own their homes.