UK house prices: Number of tenants in serious rent arrears rising
The number of tenants falling seriously behind on rent went up by 13.8 per cent between the three months to June and the three months to September, according to figures released this morning.
There were 84,200 tenants more than two months behind on their payments between July and September – the most for two years, the data from estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains reveals.
In part, the growth in tenants falling behind may simply be the result of the growth of the private rented sector. However, the proportion of private tenancies in arrears has risen to to 1.6 per cent from 1.4 per cent, but is below a 2008 peak of 2.9 per cent. Landlords appear to offering greater flexibility, with evictions falling 4.3 per cent.
“The chance of an individual tenant falling into serious arrears remains very low. In general, renting works for most people. Over the last decade the private rented sector has expanded at an unprecedented pace, providing homes for millions of households at the same time as absorbing the worst financial crisis in living memory,” said Adrian Gill, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains.
“But beneath this rising tide there are inevitably some households and individuals who are not yet feeling any new economic buoyancy. As others bid rents higher there will be a minority who are still struggling to keep up,”