More than 800,000 private tenants in England and Wales could be behind on their rent, with young people and the self-employed most likely to have missed payments, research for a landlords group has found.
The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) warned of a “rent debt crisis” and called for government action to help struggling tenants.
A survey for the NRLA found 7% of renters had built up arrears as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a figure that would equate to 840,000 people across England and Wales.
While the average arrears were between £251 and £500, some tenants reported that they owed their landlord more than £1,000.
Renters aged between 18 and 24 were twice as likely to have fallen behind as the general population of tenants, and the self-employed were most likely to be struggling, with 17% saying they had built up debts to their landlord.
These groups have … Read the rest
...