Wales: Landlords share impact of rent arrears
Husband and wife, Ian and Glenys own a three-bedroom property in Deeside, North Wales which is managed by a letting agent.
Their property was rented to a family, and they were unaware of any issues until the tenant’s wife and small children moved out of the property in Autumn 2019. Prior to them moving out, the family consistently paid rent on time and never had a problem with bills or payments. However, this all changed in Autumn 2019, where the payments started to become sporadic and the agent had to prompt the tenant to pay his rent on time.
Due to the ongoing issue with sporadic payments and accumulating rent arrears that were starting to amount, prior to the pandemic in March 2020, the agent had to serve a section 8. The agent and landlord tried to provide as much support as possible, but they could not afford to continue the tenancy indefinitely without payment and the tenant was still in work during this time.
Due to the section 8 being served, the tenant ended up paying £1,000 up front. In addition to this, the section 8 had been put on hold, due to the pandemic.
For some time after, the tenant continued to pay his rent on time as normal, with no issues. Nevertheless, as a few months passed, and the tenant again started pay sporadically and became difficult as he would not communicate with the agent.
In December of 2020, the tenant unexpectedly notified the agents that he had found a new property as the rent was more affordable, so he started to move his belongings out on the 22nd December in preparation of the move. Yet, things took a turn once again on the 30th, as he notified the agent that the flat that he was scheduled to move into had fallen through, so he would no longer be moving and there was limited communication after this.
The impact
Due to the sporadic and missed payments, this has now left the landlords in more than £3,000 arrears which is still accumulating.
The possession ban has left the landlords feeling powerless. They’re currently awaiting to hear back from the council, to see if they can assist or provide advice in anyway, as they feel for the past two years that they’ve been going round in circles.
Glenys and Ian addressed their concerns around what increased regulation means for landlords and highlighted this is having an impact on the housing supply of affordable rental properties.
