Benefit Tenants Set To Miss Out On Private Rented Homes

Housing benefit tenants are set to lose out on private rented homes as landlords look to tenants less prone to missing rental payments, in order to minimise the impact of last year’s Budget. According to the latest research from the National Landlords Association (NLA), 60 per cent of landlords report that the Chancellor’s decision to remove mortgage interest relief from 2017 will reduce their profitability. In order to recover costs, 20 per cent of those landlords say they will need to prioritise other tenant types over those perceived to be ‘riskier’ – such as tenants in receipt of housing benefit. In the last year, two thirds (64 per cent) of landlords with tenants in receipt of housing benefit experienced rent arrears. Furthermore, over the past four years, the proportion of landlords who let to tenants in receipt of housing benefit has almost halved, with the trend looking certain to continue. Read more on the NLA website.