Buy to Let Landlords to Face More Arrears – Landlord Assist

In the opinion of experts from Landlord Assist, British organisation for tenant eviction, landlords should not expect any improvements on the buy to let market in 2010. Landlord Assist predicted that an average of 150,000 tenants will face court actions by the end of 2009, meaning that the market of rental property still has a lot to live through before it stabilises. Landlord Assist’s forecast comes right after the report published by the National Landlords Association, which revealed that almost 75% of UK landlords have had tenants in arrears, with 43% of respondents admitting that they faced arrears in the past 12 months. The major reason for a growing number of rental arrears, according to Landlord Assist, is the increasing rate of unemployment around the UK. Another factor that is expected to worsen the market environment is uncertainty over interest rates and fulfilment of loan commitments. Mr. Graham Kinnear, Landlord Assist’s managing director, claims that as the level of unemployment in the UK rose in the past year, more people abandoned their plans to buy a house of their own and turned to rented accommodation, struggling to meet their rental payments. An increased number of tenants in arrears had a negative effect on UK landlords, who’ve previously seen their property assets decrease in value. He added that landlords have now less means that they had earlier to fight tenants in arrears; all they can do is take preventative measures. On the other hand, Mr. Kinnear notes, landlords can now take advantage of the decreased stock of rental properties, caused by disappearance of so-called “accidental landlords”, who were the major reason for a significant drop in rent rates in the beginning of the year. According to estimates, an average rent rate stood at £830 in October, marking a 0.1% month-on-month increase.