OFFICIAL: 569,000 private tenants in rent arrears, most recent figures reveal

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At least 569,000 private renters in England were behind on rent or at risk of arrears during the key Covid-impacted summer months, a government survey has found, a figure which is likely to have increased since then.

The Household Resilience Study, conducted in June and July to guage the affect of ‘wave 1’ of Covid, found that 7% of private renters were in rent arrears, up from 3% in 2019-20, with a further 9% very or fairly likely to fall behind with rent payments in the next three months, representing about 290,000 households.

Of those, half had fallen into arrears for the first time after COVID-19 restrictions were introduced, compared with 22% of social renters.

One in 20 private renters and 4% of social renters reported losing their job compared with 3% of owner occupiers, which contributed to the finding that 35% of renters’ household monthly income dropped by at least £100 due to COVID-19.

Almost a fifth of those on furlough were in rent arrears, compared with 9% who weren’t, along with 23% of those on Universal Credit, compared with 7% of those not receiving it.

Alicia Kennedy, director of Generation Rent (pictured) says the figures show just how hard private renters have been hit by the pandemic.

She adds: “Government support has not been enough to stop rent arrears doubling, which is causing severe hardship and crushing the hopes and dreams of thousands.

“To put struggling renters back on their feet, the government must increase Local Housing Allowance to cover average rents and provide grants to clear the rent debts that have built up.”

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PICTURES: £60,000 fine for slum landlord over multiple unlicenced HMOs

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A criminal landlord who housed restaurant workers in dangerous and overcrowded conditions in several unlicensed HMOs has been fined £60,000 with £9,000 costs.

Shen Residences and its former sole director Zhiqiang Shen were found guilty of breaching HMO regulations at the properties where staff at Ipswich’s Spoon World Buffet were sleeping in bunkbeds.

Pictures of the property released to the media include outdoor toilets (pictured) and basins and tiny bedrooms crammed with beds.

The conditions were found to be so dangerous that environmental health officers served an emergency prohibition order banning their use for sleeping with immediate effect.

Lengthy trial

The trial followed a lengthy investigation by Ipswich Borough Council which started in June 2019 after a council tax inspector alerted them to the condition of two neighbouring premises in the town’s Woodbridge Road.

Colchester Magistrates Court heard that despite initial attempts by Shen to mislead the investigation, it emerged that they were used to house workers. 

The two properties and a further building in Granville Street, Ipswich, were visited during early morning operations by police and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority in August and October 2019, and in February 2020.

Shen Residences has been fined £40,000 for the offences, and Shen, of Manor Road, Chatham, Kent, was fined £20,000 along with £8,931 in legal costs and a £190 victim surcharge.

Councillor Alasdair Ross told The Ipswich Star newspaper: “This case shows [we] won’t tolerate residents being put at risk in either sub-standard or unlicensed HMO accommodation and will take the steps to hold to account those responsible for such.”

Read more about recent HMO fines in Ipswich.

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Would you put up your rent at the moment? Fewer landlords are doing it, says report

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Most landlords have continued supporting tenants during the pandemic by keeping rent increases at a minimum, according to ARLA Propertymark.

Its November Private Rented Sector report reveals that the number of tenants experiencing a rent increase fell for the third month in a row, with less than one in three (28%) agents seeing landlords increasing rents compared with 37% in October and 40% in September.

Its survey of 209 letting agents shows this is four percentage points lower than in November 2019, when the figure stood at 32%.

But the number of new prospective tenants fell to an average of 65 registered per branch, down from 88 the previous month.

Regionally, the North West had the highest number of new tenants registered per agency branch with an average of 121, while Northern Ireland recorded the lowest number with an average of 26 registered per branch.

ARLA Propertymark reports there was no change in the number of landlords selling their buy-to-let properties, with an average of four per branch in November – the same as one year ago.

Chief policy adviser Mark Hayward (pictured) says the consistent figures illustrate a steady rental market, with letting agents continuing to support landlords and their tenants.

He adds: “The continuing fall of increased rents in particular is testament to the understanding being shown across the sector.

“As the UK experiences ever changing lockdown measures and regional restrictions, it’s vital that tenancies are maintained to keep the rent flowing, as the stability of the private rental sector is essential to the wider economy’s bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis.”

Read more about rents.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Would you put up your rent at the moment? Fewer landlords are doing it, says report | LandlordZONE.

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National Residential will solve every landlord problem to sell your buy-to-lets for the best possible price

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If you’re a landlord, and you haven’t yet heard of us here at National Residential, there’s a good chance you’ll want to. Established in 2006, we pride ourselves with our “any problem we can fix” formula, lead by myself, founder and industry expert

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BREAKING: £30m fund established to pay for fire alarms within at-risk cladded towers

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The government has intervened once more in the cladding scandal and has established a £30 million fund to pay for the costs of ‘waking watches’ in at-risk tower blocks.

This will be welcome news for the thousands of landlords who own apartments within Grenfell-type towers fitted with the now infamous ACM cladding, and who have been paying for ‘waking watches’ along with other leaseholders.

Waking watches are round-the-clock regular security sweeps of buildings to ensure residents within compromised buildings can be warned earlier if a fire does break out.

In a recent case highlighted this week by the BBC, leaseholders at one block in Bromley has spent £500,000 since the Grenfell tragedy or £300 a month per property owner.

The government says it is now stepping in to pay for eligible towers to have common fire alarm systems installed as quickly as possible to reduce or remove dependence on waking watches.

Significant savings

The housing ministry says some buildings have already installed these systems due to the significant savings this offers, with leaseholders in those buildings, who on average were paying £137 per month for a waking watch, expected to collectively save over £3m per month.

Minister Robert Jenrick says his civil servants has discovered wildly varying waking watch costs and has asked Trading Standards to step in and stop leaseholders being exploited.

The Waking Watch Relief Fund will open in January, although emergency support will be offered to leaseholders who cannot afford to pay for waking watches any longer and have been forced to flee their homes.

“The measures announced today build on our commitment, which will be enshrined in law through our Building Safety Bill, to improve the safety of buildings across the country,” says Building Safety Minister Lord Greenhalgh (pictured).

Read more about the government’s support thus far for landlords caught up in the cladding scandal.

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More landlords keeping rents down during pandemic

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ARLA Propertymark’s Private Rented Sector (PRS) report has confirmed that the number of landlords not increasing rents for tenants during the pandemic emergency has again fallen for the third month in a row

Figures for the November report show only 28% of ARLA agents witnessed landlords increasing rents compared to 37% in October and 40% in September.

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