Severe tenant arrears drop

The year ended on a high for many landlords as Q4 had a 15.6% drop in the number of tenants in severe rent arrears – arrears of more than two months - when compared to the preceding four quarters, where severe arrears rose by an average 10.8% per quarter.

This means that the number of tenants in severe rent arrears has fallen for the first time in over a year with the number now standing at 86,000.

This drop means that the annual growth in the number of tenants in severe arrears was just 0.3% and rent arrears tenants now represent just 2.2% of tenancies in England and Wales, down from 2.5% in the previous quarter.

Alongside this drop there are reports that there was also a wider improvement in tenant finance with overall tenant arrears falling in November to 7.4% of all rent late or unpaid, compared with 8.1% in the previous month.