Thursday, 7th August 2014

Fewer tenants facing rental arrears in the UK

---

The number of tenants in the UK severely behind on rental payments has fallen by 35,000 or 35% in last 12 months, new research shows.

The improvement means that 98.5% of private sector tenants now avoid significant rental arrears, according to the latest Tenant Arrears Tracker report from LSL Property Services.

Overall some 67,000 households remain more than two months behind on rent but this is compared to 102,000 in the second quarter of 2013.

Most recently the number of tenants in severe arrears has dropped by 0.2%, between the first three months of 2014 and the second quarter of the year.

As a proportion of all tenants, those in serious arrears of more than two months has also improved, standing at 1.5% in the second quarter compared to 2.2% in the second quarter of 2013.

Improvements in serious rental arrears tally with the latest figures on overall rent arrears, of any duration. According to LSL’s latest Buy to Let Index, overall tenant arrears now stand at just 7%, as of May 2014, down from 8.2% in May 2013.

‘Private renting has absorbed enormous pressure and will continue to do so. For over half a decade, our national aspiration to own our own homes has struggled in the face of the longest economic crisis on record. And in the midst of this, private renting has provided a solution,’ said Paul Jardine, director and receiver at Templeton LPA.