February 10, 2010
Tenant Evictions Fall By 11%
Tenant evictions in England and Wales have fallen by 11%, according to easyroommate.co.uk
The flat-share specialist claims that from 2004 until 2008, the number of tenant evictions rose by over 8%, peaking in the twelve months to the third quarter of 2008, at 56,700.
However, in the same period of 2009, the figure fell by over 6,000 to 50,450.
The drop comes despite 43% of landlords experiencing arrears in the past year, according to a study from the National Landlords’ Association.
Easyroommate.co.uk spokesman, Jonathan Moore, says: “When house prices and rents were rising, many landlords were keen to kick out tenants who were late with the rent … because they knew that would mean increasing the rent when they got a new tenant in, or selling the place to capitalise on inflated house prices.”
He adds: “But in 2008, house prices stopped rising and an empty property became a landlord’s worst nightmare.”
Tenants who are sceptical about landlords’ levels of forbearance over arrears may be interested to know that Higos Insurance Services has just launched a policy that covers rental payments in the event of unemployment or sickness.
The new product is available to private and social tenants, plus those still living at home and paying rent to parents.
Furthermore, cover can be extended to include a range of monthly outgoings including mobile phone bills, gym membership, TV subscriptions and finance agreements (excluding credit cards).
