Renters fear arrears as cost-of-living bites

Renters fear arrears as cost-of-living bites

0:01 AM, 11th December 2024, About A day ago

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Renters across the UK are growing increasingly concerned about their ability to pay rent with a surge in online searches related to rent arrears.

Data from Zero Deposit reveals there has been an 8.6% increase in Google searches for ‘rent arrears’ over the past three months.

There has also been a 3.7% uptick in searches for ‘tenant rights’, suggesting that tenants are not only struggling financially but also seeking to understand their legal protections.

The heightened interest in tenant rights might be linked to the Renters’ Rights Bill as searches for the legislation in the last three months have rocketed by 340%, while interest in ‘Section 21’ searches rose by 15.6%.

Changes from the Renters’ Rights Bill

The firm’s chief executive, Sam Reynolds, said: “The current rental market landscape is undergoing some potentially monumental changes and so it’s understandable that tenants and landlords are both growing increasingly interested in their rights and the changes that could be made as a result of the Renters’ Rights Bill.

“An increased interest in rent arrears is a potentially worrying sign and could indicate that more existing tenants are struggling to manage the high cost of renting, whilst landlords are also concerned about the protection in place to ensure they maintain a consistent stream of rental income.”

He added: “There’s an overarching worry that the Renters’ Rights Bill could drive landlords out of the sector, which would further exacerbate the current supply issues facing the rental market.

“Indeed, fewer tenants would need to worry about falling into arrears if landlords were encouraged to remain within the sector, thus maintaining a robust level of available stock and preventing rents from spiralling.”

Impact on the private rented sector

The recent Autumn Statement has also had a notable impact on the private rented sector with a 594.1% surge in searches for ‘Additional rate stamp duty’.

The firm says this indicates that landlords are closely monitoring the government’s fiscal policies and their potential consequences.

The Renters’ Rights Bill is currently passing through Parliament and is set to introduce periodic tenancies and ban Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions.


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