Rental Arrears Responsible For Half Of Landlord Repossessions

Online, September 28, 2010 (Newswire.com) - New figures launched by the National Landlord Association (NLA) indicate that nearly half of all landlord repossessions are caused by tenants in rental arrears. With this in mind, Belvoir Sheffield, the leading letting agent in Sheffield is offering advice on reducing this risk.

Following recent NLA data which demonstrates that a fifth of private-residential landlords had tenants who were in rental arrears in the second quarter of 2010, with 81 per-cent of cases taking an average of five months to resolve, landlords are being advised to take adequate cover.

Rick Flay, Director at Belvoir Sheffield, who offer a wide range of property to rent in Sheffield, said, "Gaining possession of a property can be extremely costly and time consuming. It can cost up to £5,000 to have tenants removed, and this is often aggravated by late rental payments."

Whilst the report found that one-third of landlords had never sought to end a tenancy, 23.3 per-cent did so because of anti-social behavior experienced by tenants, with the total bill for rental arrears being calculated at an estimated £254 million across England and Wales this year alone.

Rick, from the Sheffield letting agents added, "Landlords should ensure that they employ an agent who chooses their tenants wisely, as this will improve the likelihood of having a good landlord-tenant relationship. Here at Belvoir Sheffield, we carry out in-depth credit reports, and request references from previous landlords and current employers, on behalf of the landlords of our managed properties.

"Taking care of your property is also key to having a good landlord-tenant relationship. If your tenants see that you care about the condition of your property and it will also encourage them to take pride in the condition of the house.

"It is essential that landlords take out Rent Protection Insurance in order to reduce the risk of rental arrears. Designed to cover that landlord against any possible arrears until vacant possession is obtained, Rent Protection Insurance also covers any legal expenses as a result of a tenant breaching the tenancy agreement, or unauthorised occupation of the property."