In light of new figures indicating that despite wider improvements in tenant finance, the number of those in severe rental arrears has risen drastically in the last two quarters, Belvoir Northwich has launched figures showing that it is significantly better than the national average, with less than half of one per-cent of its properties in arrears by two or more months.
The new report called the Tenant Arrears Tracker, which indicated that arrears are still a very serious issue in the UK overall, found that 98,000 people in the UK are more than two months behind on rent, and cases of severe arrears up 3.3 per cent per quarter.
James Whalley, Office Manager at Belvoir Northwich, who offer a wide range of properties to let in Northwich, said: “The new report paints a dismal picture of arrears in the UK, but having said that our latest figures at Belvoir Northwich indicate that we are still better than the national average. What’s more, industry experts are calling our tenant checking procedures to avoid such scenarios ‘safe as houses’.
The new report did however provide some positive signs, and annually the number of tenants in severe arrears showed a minor improvement, falling by 2.9 per cent, although still remaining 20 per cent above the long term average. Furthermore, the number of buy to let mortgages in arrears is also on the decline, falling 9.1 per cent from the final quarter of 2012 to 17,900, and decreasing by 24.8 per cent on an annual basis.
James, whose letting agency on Castle Street in Northwich, specialises in providing flats to let Northwich, added: “Tenants are showing resilience to the current financial situation, but we still warn landlords about the importance of adequate landlord insurance and a thorough credit checking procedure. We invite landlords to visit us for a no obligation meeting to discuss how we can protect them against arrears.”
