What Renters Are Cutting Back On in 2026: A Resident Value Plan
A resident-benefits programme is only useful when it reflects the choices households are making now. In 2026, the evidence is not a single headline about the cost of living. It is a pattern of rent pressure, food insecurity, borrowing for essentials and changing transport costs. Housing providers need to turn that pattern into a practical value plan without treating every renter as if their circumstances are the same.
The Office for National Statistics reported that UK household costs rose by 2.8% in the year to June 2026. Private renters had the highest annual rate by tenure, at 3.0%, while social and other renters experienced 2.7%. The ONS classifies these Household Costs Indices as official statistics in development, so they are useful directional evidence rather than a complete picture of individual budgets. [1]
Start with the pressure behind the purchase
Citizens Advice found that 29% of private renters it surveyed in England had cut back or gone without essentials to pay rent in the previous year, rising to 38% among single parents. Almost a third had borrowed money or taken out a loan to cover rent. The same research found that some renters faced extra costs or higher bills when emergency repairs were not resolved promptly. [2]
JRF's summer 2026 tracker looked at low-income families across the UK, not renters as a whole. Within that group, 62% had been unable to afford at least one essential item in the previous six months. Forty-seven per cent had gone hungry, reduced meal sizes or skipped meals in the previous 30 days, while an estimated 3.8 million low-income households had borrowed for essentials. [3]
These studies should not be blended into one universal tenant statistic. Together, they help housing teams identify areas to test with their own residents: food, rent, household bills, transport, clothing, toiletries and the extra costs created when services fail.
Build the value plan around four everyday needs
| Resident need | Useful support |
|---|---|
| Food and household essentials | Relevant discounts, local food-support routes, benefit checks and crisis referrals |
| Energy and home costs | Useful discounts where available, trusted energy advice, hardship routes, repair escalation and help understanding bills |
| Transport and work | Relevant travel, cycling or fuel value where available, plus digital access for job search |
| Moving and setting up home | Furniture, appliance, connectivity and essential homeware value, alongside grants or practical support where available |
Give Rent Rewards a defined role in the plan
National evidence can identify broad pressure points and resident feedback can refine them locally. Rent Rewards provides a white-label platform through which landlords, agents and housing associations can give residents access to everyday discounts across categories including groceries, utilities and furniture. [4]
That makes Rent Rewards a practical delivery channel, not a claim that discounts solve financial hardship. Providers can use it to organise offers around real household needs, keep the resident journey under their own brand and communicate useful value more clearly. Benefit checks, qualified debt advice, crisis support and safeguarding routes should remain visible whenever a discount is not enough.
A stronger Rent Rewards brief
Prioritise the categories residents identify, make eligibility and redemption steps clear, review expired or low-relevance offers, and place deeper support routes alongside the benefits channel.
Ask residents before choosing the offer mix
National evidence gives a starting point. Local listening decides the priority. A short, well-designed pulse survey can ask residents which three categories put the most pressure on their monthly budget, which support they already use and what stops them using other services. Pair that with call reasons, arrears conversations, repair complaints and referral data, while respecting purpose limitation and data protection.
Do not ask only digitally. Use a mix of email or app prompts, telephone conversations, community sessions and support-worker feedback. Segment results carefully. A family setting up a new tenancy, a student renter and an older social-housing resident may value very different help. The aim is not to create a personalised profile of hardship. It is to avoid spending time on benefits residents cannot or will not use.
Use a simple relevance test
Before adding any benefit, ask whether it addresses a cost residents already face, whether the saving is clear, whether access is inclusive and whether there is a credible route when a discount is not enough.
Make access part of the value
A long list of offers is not the same as support. Residents need to know what is available, whether they are eligible and what will happen next. Keep language direct, avoid implying guaranteed savings and distinguish commercial discounts from regulated advice or crisis support.
- Group offers by real-life need rather than by brand.
- State exclusions and redemption steps before a resident clicks through.
- Keep alternative contact routes for people who cannot use an app or portal.
- Review failed journeys, expired offers and repeated questions every month.
- Place debt, benefits and safeguarding referrals alongside relevant value, not behind it.
Give one team clear ownership of the benefits channel, resident communications and offer-quality checks. That creates a better experience for residents and gives the provider a practical route for improving relevance over time.
Review value as resident needs change
The ONS figures show why a static programme can date quickly. Between March and June 2026, the contribution from housing and household services to annual household-cost inflation fell, while transport's contribution increased, driven by fuels and lubricants. That does not mean housing became affordable or that every household experienced the same change. It means the offer mix and communications should be reviewed against fresh evidence and resident feedback. [1]
Set a quarterly rhythm: refresh national and local evidence, speak to residents, retire weak offers and record what changed. The strongest resident-value proposition is not the one with the most benefits. It is the one that stays relevant, is easy to use and connects people to deeper support when everyday savings are not enough.
Turn resident evidence into a more relevant benefits plan
See how Rent Rewards can give your organisation a branded channel for everyday discounts alongside your existing financial inclusion and resident-support routes.
Explore Rent RewardsSources
- Office for National Statistics: Household Costs Indices, April to June 2026
- Citizens Advice: Almost half of private renters have faced rule-breaking letting agents
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Cost of living tracker, summer 2026
- Rent Rewards: tenant rewards platform for housing providers and landlords
