More than 800,000 private tenants in England and Wales could end up renting, with young people and the self-employed more likely to find payments, a study for a landlord group has found to find out.
The National Association of Residential Landlords (NRLA) warned of a “rent arrears crisis” and called for government action to help struggling tenants.
A study for the NRLA found that 7% of tenants had built up arrears as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a figure that would equate to 840,000 people across England and Wales.
Although the average arrears ranged from £ 251 to £ 500, some tenants said they owed more than £ 1,000.
Entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 24 were twice as likely to fall behind as the general population, and self-employed people were more likely to struggle, with 17% saying they had raise debts to their landlord.
These groups have been hit hard by the collapse of the economy from the coronavirus crisis. Young people have suffered disproportionately from job cuts, although many self-employed people who could not access government employment support schemes and see their incomes fall sharply as a result on that.
Homeowners and landlords have been able to claim paid leave, but tenants must negotiate with property owners on an individual basis. Some landlords have been flexible about payments, and some have reduced rents for struggling tenants, but have not been required to take any action.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, said: “Our research clearly shows that the rent arrears crisis is now circulating in the rental market. While most landlords have done everything possible to support tenants affected by Covid-19, they are expected to go through without additional support. hurting tenants as well as landlords. ”
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Evictions are suspended until mid-January across the UK and landlords are now required to give six months’ notice before they can recover property from a tenant, although a ban applies to this rule. , including those who are more than six months in rent arrears.
However, Beadle said: “Ministers must accept that banning transplants does nothing to keep home tenants long-term. In fact, it does the opposite because kicking the can down the road just means more debt piling up, creating more of a problem for tenants as well as landlords. .
“In order to maintain tenancies, the government needs to provide an emergency funding package to build up rent arrears as a result of the pandemic.”