As of July 2017 13.7% of households fell into arrears, a 7% increase from a year ago.
A rising number of tenants are falling into arrears as rents rise across England and Wales, Your Move’s buy-to-let index has revealed.
As of July 2017 13.7% of households fell into arrears, a 7% increase from a year ago.
The cost of renting increased in every region except from the South West year-on-year, with strong rises in Wales at 4.3%, the South East at 3.6% and the East of England at 3.3%.
Your Move blamed the range of government measures designed to dampen down the buy-to-let sector on shrinking stock, which it said has resulted in higher rents.
These include the 3% stamp duty surcharge introduced on April 2016 and the gradual reduction of mortgage tax relief.
Richard Waind, director at Your Move, said: “We are now starting to see the real impact of the government's stamp duty revision, plus the additional tax changes which have hit landlords hard.
“The outcome has been a decline in the number of rental properties on the market and this has had the effect of pushing up prices for tenants.”
