Charity acknowledges that landlords need help to keep homes

A charity has acknowledged that landlords need help to keep their homes, and in turn continue to provide much-needed homes in the private rental sector.

Richard Lane, external affairs director of StepChange, says the surge in arrears and repossessions in the buy to let sector is “concerning.”

There were 8,980 buy to let mortgages in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more of the outstanding balance in the second quarter of 2023, which is 28 per cent leap on the previous quarter.

Within the BTL total, there were 4,810 buy to let mortgages in the lightest arrears band: this is representing between 2.5 and 5.0 per cent of the outstanding balance. This was a huge 41 per cent greater than in the previous quarter.

Some 440 BTL mortgaged properties were taken into possession in the second quarter of 2023, which shows a seven per cent rise on the previous quarter.

Lane says: “The government must not ignore the impact of this crisis on private renters, who are facing unprecedented hikes in rent with little support in place for those who fall into financial difficulty. 

“While a 12 month freeze on mortgage repossession has been instated, private sector tenants, who include families and people with vulnerabilities, have no such protections. 

“The Renter’s (Reform) Bill needs to do more to recognise the intense financial pressure on private sector tenants and the support they - and landlords - need to help keep their homes.”

Lane says further interventions to help the owner occupier sector may be necessary too.

In the homeowner sector, there were 81,900 mortgages in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more of the outstanding balance in the second quarter of 2023 - that’s some seven per cent greater than in the previous quarter.

Lane comments: “Protections brought in by government and mortgage lenders to mitigate the difficulties are welcome and will help to keep people in their homes over the coming months, but we would urge policy makers to monitor the situation closely and keep further inventions to support people who are struggling on the table if necessary.”

We're excited to announce that we're working on building a shiny new website for readers of Landlord Today! As part of this process, commenting on articles will be temporarily disabled. We look forward to sharing our new and improved Landlord Today website with you shortly!