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More than 800,000 renters in Covid-related arrears

Emma Lunn
Written By:
Emma Lunn
Posted:
Updated:
22/12/2020

Landlords warn ministers that they need to get a grip of the crisis engulfing the private rented sector.

More than 800,000 private renters in England and Wales have built up rent arrears since lockdown measures began, according to the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA).

A survey of tenants by the research consultancy Dynata found that 7% of private renters have built arrears due to the coronavirus pandemic. It says this equates to 840,000 tenants across England and Wales.

The average arrears were between £251 and £500 but 18% (more than 150,000) of tenants in arrears have rent debts of more than £1,000.

The survey found that younger people are most likely to have been affected with 14% of renters aged 18 to 24 and 10% of those aged 25 to 34 having built up arrears since March.

Self-employed people who rent were most likely to be in arrears, with 17% saying they had developed rent debts since March.

Regionally, 11% of renters in the West Midlands had built up arrears since March, the largest proportion of any region in England and Wales. This was followed by London where 9% of renters had accrued arrears.

Ben Beadle, NRLA chief executive, said: “Our research highlights in stark terms the rent debt crisis now engulfing the rental market.
“Whilst the vast majority of landlords have done everything possible to support tenants affected due to COVID-19, expecting them to muddle through without further support is hurting tenants as well as landlords.

“Ministers need to accept that simply banning repossessions does nothing to keep tenants in their homes long term. In fact, it will achieve the complete opposite as in kicking the can down the road it just means larger debts piling up creating a bigger problem for tenants and also for landlords. To sustain tenancies the government needs to provide an urgent financial package to get rent debts built due to the pandemic paid off.”

To keep tenants in their homes, the NRLA is renewing its call for a financial package to help struggling renters to pay off arrears built since lockdown measures began.

It says this should include a mixture of government guaranteed, interest-free, hardship loans and a boost to benefits rather than cutting this support as announced in the Spending Review.