Tenant non-payment 'disastrous for some landlords'

Posted: 28 Oct 2008 13:10:12 GMT

Non-payment by tenants can lead to "horrific problems" for landlords, it has been claimed.

According to the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), buy-to-let owners have their own private financial commitments to take care of, something that tenant non-payment can adversely affect.

Lee Dribben, chairman of the association, explained that in the worst case landlords could end up with a negative credit rating prohibiting them from remortgaging or borrowing funding for further purchases.

He warned that they could even be at risk of losing their own home if income derived from tenant rental payments has been earmarked for their own mortgage payments.

"Gross rent charged is used by landlords to maintain property, meet loan repayments, pay taxes, clean and prepare property between lets and cover empty periods," Mr Dribben added.

Recently, mydeposits.co.uk - a government scheme to protect tenants' deposits - revealed that it protected some 200,000 deposits worth more than £177 million in its first 12 months of operation between April 2007 and March 2008.

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