Landlords advised to 'vet tenants'

News Category: Industry News

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The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has advised landlords to use proprietary agencies to vet tenants amid concerns that rental arrears could increase this year.

Mark Butterworth, a director at the RLA, said a tenants' credit history could fall apart very quickly as the economic climate remains volatile.

His comments come after the Association of Residential Letting Agents last month reported that nine out of ten landlords were not selling or buying rental properties.

Mr Butterworth suggested that landlords could use rent guarantee systems as a form of protection, although this will require them to pay a percentage of their rental income in premium costs.

He added: "The best advice is to make sure that tenants keep them [landlords] fully informed and, if there are arrears, then it's a case that a landlord has to make a decision."

Letting agents might also consider rent software to manage the collection of funds from tenants in what could be a difficult year for some renters, as redundancies are expected to increase.

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