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The National Landlords Association has published research revealing 37% of landlords currently have tenants who are living in arrears.

The association says this shows why it is not surprising that 44% of landlords have experienced rental arrears. It also says that it goes some way to explaining the significant rise in repossessions and why a growing number of landlords are having problems meeting their buy-to-let mortgage repayments.

When faced with arrears, only 50% of landlords attempted to recover the loss of earnings through the courts. For the most part, landlords found the court system straight forward but many reported waiting times of over three months before their case was even heard. One respondent said to the NLA that: "the court process for evictions takes far too long which could potentially lead to hardship for many landlords."

David Salusbury, chairman of the NLA, says: "This is becoming a serious problem for landlords all over the UK. Paying the rent has to be right at the top of tenants' priorities as even one month's arrears, in this climate, could be the straw which breaks the camel's back. The mortgage has to be paid and the vast majority of landlords do everything in their power to make sure this happens.

"Contrary to recent reports, most landlords are not expecting to be repossessed and lose their asset. Landlords and tenants need to communicate and work together to tackle financial problems before they result in a loss of rent and a potential default on mortgage repayments."

SOURCE: NLA, 30/03/09

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