The latest Landlord Trends report from Pegasus Insight noted that the share of landlords citing arrears has steadily fallen for the last six years, since peaking at 42% in 2020. This was despite a slight rise in arrears seen in Q1 this year.
Portfolio landlords most impacted by arrears
The analysis suggested that landlords with larger portfolios were worst hit by rental arrears, with two-thirds of landlords holding 11 or more properties reporting arrears in the last year. By comparison, just 18% of landlords with between one and 10 properties said they had experienced arrears in the last 12 months.
Pegasus Insight said this reflected findings from its Wave 1 2026 Tenant Trends research, where it polled 3,000 private renters. Just 12% of tenants said they had missed a rental payment in the last year, and nine in 10 said their rent was either manageable or comfortable.
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Voids present a challenge to landlords
Although arrears have fallen, landlords said void periods were affecting them. Some 41% said they had experienced a void of more than seven days in the last 12 months, with each lasting 66 days on average.
Again, this was more common for larger portfolio landlords and those with houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), with 68% of those with 11 or more properties impacted by void periods compared to 35% with smaller portfolios.
Bethan Cooke, director at Pegasus Insight, said: “Rental arrears falling to 26% is encouraging, particularly after the financial pressures experienced by tenants and landlords over recent years. But it is important not to interpret this as evidence that those pressures have disappeared. Larger portfolio landlords remain much more exposed to arrears, while voids continue to affect four in 10 landlords.
“Our tenant research also shows that most renters are continuing to meet their housing costs, but many household budgets remain stretched. With inflationary pressures persisting and landlords facing higher operating and regulatory costs, the position remains finely balanced. The priority now should be to avoid adding further pressures that could ultimately feed through into rents or reduce the supply of homes available to tenants.”
