Landlords are in line to lose thousands of pounds in rent as the cost of living crisis pushes the number of households falling into arrears to an 11-year high.
According to figures from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, one in 10 tenant households in England will fall behind on rent this financial year – one-third higher than during the pandemic.
Between October 2021 and June 2022, the average rent debt for tenants in arrears jumped by more than one-third, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Average arrears climbed from £450 to £620 – bringing total rent debt to £550m.
The JRF estimates that there 353,000 private renting households in arrears in June.