In one of the many submissions sent to Chancellor Rishi Sunak prior to his Autumn Budget at the end of October is to stop penalising landlords and just for a change help encourage the sector.

The trade body that sent the submission firmly believes Sunak should tackle the pandemic’s tenant rental debt. It also states that if the ponderously slow court system is not changed along with ever increasing tenant debt as the causes for a large percentage of landlords to exit.

The organisation has recently stated that for “most landlords, income from rent makes up 42 per cent of their total gross income, making them highly vulnerable when their tenants build up rent arrears.”

The trade body says landlords have been severely impacted by the pandemic as official figures show that between April 2019 and March 2020 tenants in rental arrears was 3 per cent, but by November to December 2020 this tripled to nine per cent.

It claims that if this surge continues the number of tenants in rental arrears could rocket to 800,000 by the end of this year.

A spokesperson for the organisation, says: “We are urging the UK Government to look at the bigger picture here. It’s not about penalising landlords but more about doing the right thing for the country as we work to build back better from the devastating effects of the pandemic.

“Ultimately the housing system needs to work for everyone, but landlords are being asked to carry too much of the financial burden caused by the pandemic. We are risking good landlords leaving the market.

“The private rented sector supports five million households in the UK and is an important provider of homes against a backdrop of an overwhelmed social housing system.

“However, at the moment, the risks associated with being a landlord are incredibly high and the financial help for tenants and landlords struggling under the weight of accumulated Covid-related debt is inadequate.”

Blog Post from PIMS

See details of our Guaranteed Rent Scheme here