The number of people in rented accommodation in severe rental arrears has reached its highest level in 3 years.
Latest figures show there are 78,970 tenants in England & Wales who are at least 2 months in arrears. This is almost 11,400 more than last year!
However, while the number of those in severe arrears is rising, the overall level of tenants in any kind of arrears is falling. A total of 9.3% of all rent in England & Wales was late or unpaid in November 2011.
The number of tenants being evicted through court orders has also risen, with 24,966 people served eviction notices in the last quarter of 2011 – an increase of 11% from the year previously.
Enlisting a reputable Letting Agent, who have successful procedures in recovering overdue rent is a Landlords best option to ensure he/she dosen’t become involved in the above statistics .
Rent recovery should be dealt with on a weekly basis, from the initial 7 days overdue to legal stages of serving notices and court proceedings. Tenants should to be contacted using all forms of communication available; telephone, SMS, e-mail. A letter should be sent to the tenant informing of late/non payment along with confirmation of the process if no payment after a further 7 days. Contact should be made and letters sent to the tenant on 7, 14 & 21 day intervals. Landlords must always be contacted by letter at each stage of the process! I hear all to often of Landlords not knowing of rental arrears until they contact their agent!
Tenants should always speak to their Agent or Landlord if they are struggling to pay in the early stages rather than ignoring the problem. Payment plans will always be preffered over non-payment/ignorance and will halt any legal proceedings.
Helen Deeley has worked in the property and property maintenance capacity for over 8 years, joining the Concentric/Lawson’s team in 2009.
From a history of being responsible for organisation of contractors, projects and works on factories and commercial buildings for a large corporate maintenance holding company, and then working in partnership with local council, housing department in the regenerations of housing. Here she personally handled the refurbishment of run down vacant properties in the local borough.
Since joining the Lawson’s/Concentric team, Helen has worked her way through the ranks and now enjoys managing the HUB, a collection of property management experts, property inspectors and contractors to manage all the properties throughout the UK for both companies.
Helens organisational and teaching/management skills have allowed her to excel in this role, and is now moving into the capacity of Trainer for the group.
Her wealth of experience is a great benefit to the team and our landlords and shines through in the numerous videos, blogs and articles that she writes.
Helen Deeley
Property Management Manager – Concentric Lettings