Landlords Must Keep Track as Rental Arrears Start to Build

Landlords in the UK are increasingly having to make sure they keep track of the financial state of their tenants, as the number of people who are falling into severe arrears with their rental payments rose throughout the final period of 2013, the latest Tenant Arrears Tracker published by LSL Property Services has shown. It said that the number of people who are two months behind with their rent increased, but emphasised that overall tenant finance has improved.

According to the company, the number of people who were two months behind on their rent rose to 67,000 in the last quarter of the year, rising from less than 30,000 in the three-month period that came before. The number facing eviction by court order also rose during the same period, sitting at 11 per cent higher than it had the quarter before. It added that the proportion of tenancies in serious arrears amounted to 1.5 per cent and 1.6 per cent in Wales and England respectively.

This emphasises the need for landlords to concentrate on the financial situation of those who are falling behind on their rent. For those who have a number of different tenants on their books, it can be hard to keep track, but as the figures show, it’s vital landlords are able to act as soon as someone falls behind on rental payments before the situation gets even worse.

“Households are still heavily indebted, and wages are only starting to very dimly reflect a brighter economic picture,” said Paul Jardine, director and receiver at Templeton LPA, owned by LSL Property Services. The festive period will also have had an effect in the last period, with many people struggling throughout the final period of the year to make ends meet.

However, it’s not all bad news for landlords. While the volume of those in serious trouble with meeting their rental requirements is on the rise, the overall number of people in arrears has actually fallen in the last few months. Across the UK, the total volume of tenants who had fallen behind on their rent at all was 6.6 per cent in the third quarter. This was a fall from the 7.1 per cent LSL Property Services recorded in the three months prior.