Almost one in five landlords (17%) have experienced rental arrears as a result of the pandemic, a study by Sequre Property Investment has found.

The buy-to-let (BTL) specialist suggested that the majority of landlords are now seeing a reduction in the level of late rental income owed to them.

Sequre’s research, based on a study of 3,842 UK landlords, found that 27% of respondents had reported that this had been a marginal inconvenience to the tune of one month’s rent. However, a further 23% have been out of pocket between one and two months rent, while half (50%) have seen these arrears accumulate to two or more months of rental income.

The research also suggested that 36% of landlords have seen the level of arrears owed to them remain the same since the height of the pandemic. Sequre stated that 37% have seen a reduction and that 28% have seen an increase.

“The pandemic has posed problematic for tenant and landlord alike but while the nation’s tenants have been afforded a great deal of government protection, little has been done to aid those landlords facing a backlog of unpaid rent,” commented Sequre sales director, Daniel Jackson.

“With the government all but blocking the ability to evict tenants who can’t pay, the only option on the table has been to sit tight and wait for this storm of rental arrears to blow over.

“The good news is that many now seem to be weathering this storm and having shown faith in their tenants during hard times, the majority of landlords are now starting to have this faith repaid in the form of overdue rent.

“Of course, there are some tenants who are not yet out of the woods, as well as those who seek to take advantage of the system, but the rental market certainly seems to be rebounding in the right direction.

“Despite these tough times of late, as well as a string of legislative changes to buy-to-let profitability, the buy-to-let sector remains a lucrative business and continues to attract attention from the amateur landlord, right through to the institutional investor.”

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