Chancellor needs to address rent debt crisis as rental market restrictions are eased

Responding to confirmation by the Government today of its plans to taper down emergency restrictions in the private rented sector, Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association said:

“Having operated under emergency conditions for over a year, today’s announcement from the Government is an important step in ensuring the sector’s recovery."

“It does nothing though to address the rent debt crisis. With the number of private tenants in arrears having increased threefold since lockdown measures started, more are at risk of losing their homes as restrictions ease. We want to see tenancies sustained wherever possible and call on the Chancellor to step in and provide affected tenants with the financial support they need to pay off rent arrears built as a result of the pandemic.”

Notes:

• Details of the Government’s measures to taper down emergency restrictions in the sector can be accessed at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/564/contents/made.
• MHCLG’s Household Resilience Study, Wave 2 for England for November-December 2020 can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/978991/Household_Resilience_Study_Wave_2_November-December_2020_Report.pdf. It notes that:

“In November-December 2020, 9% of private renters (353,000 households) were currently in arrears, up from 3% in 2019-20 but unchanged from June-July 2020 when 7% were in arrears.”