Fewer tenants are in serious rent arrears thanks to an improved jobs market
The improving employment market means that fewer tenants are falling into arrears, according to data released today.
Research from lettings agents Your Move and Reeds Rains shows 3,100 fewer households were in serious rent arrears in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to the previous quarter.
As a result of the improving situation from tenant rent arrears, the number of eviction notices also fell. Eviction orders dropped by 3 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the final quarter of 2015.
Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, said: "Fewer tenants in serious arrears reflect the health of the jobs market.
"With an extra 44,000 jobs created in the first quarter of this year, thousands of tenants have been able to get their finances back on track and pay down late rent. Serious rent arrears peaked in the third quarter of 2012, when 124,800 households owed more than two months’ rent – and when unemployment in the UK stood at 7.9 per cent.
"Since then a boom in employment has been responsible for lifting many of the most precarious tenant households out of serious rent arrears and onto a more sustainable course. The direction of travel looks very positive."