76% of tenants welcome the eviction ban extension according to tenant and landlord survey

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Research by lettings and estate agent, Barrows and Forrester, has revealed that the vast majority of tenants welcome the extension to evictions announced at the weekend, despite many seeing little impact on their ability to pay the rent.

Monday should have marked the end of the eviction ban timeline, however, the decision to extend it further means eviction notices will not be served for another six weeks across England and Wales, following a similar move by Scotland at the end of last week.

Barrows and Forrester surveyed 1,144 current UK tenants and 992 current UK landlords on their thoughts regarding the ban and its extension.

76% of tenants stated they wanted to see the ban on evictions reviewed and extended further, while 43% of landlords, perhaps understandably, believe that it should not have been extended.

However, it would seem that financial factors aren’t the predominant issue surrounding the ban on tenant evictions. 46% of UK tenants stated that they have not seen their financial situation worsen as a result of the pandemic.

In Northern Ireland, 67% of tenants stated they are worse off as a result of the current pandemic, with tenants in the West Midlands (50%), East Midlands (48%) and Greater London (47%) also struggling more than most.

Just 18% of tenants stated that they have struggled or failed to pay the rent during the pandemic although this increases to 28% of tenants in Wales, 27% in Northern Ireland and 21% in Scotland and the West Midlands.

In addition, just 23% of landlords surveyed stated that they have seen their level of rental income reduce due to the pandemic and just 12% of landlords stated that they had been unable to evict a tenant during the pandemic.

Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented:

“The ban on tenant evictions is a delicate subject and both sides of the argument have valid reasons for wanting to see the ban either extended or lifted.

 

Financial reasons brought on by the pandemic are no doubt a factor, with nearly half of tenants seeing their financial situation worsen due to the pandemic.

However, a far smaller proportion have struggled to pay their rent and many landlords have also seen their rental income sustained which is good news for all of those operating within the sector.

There are also those that are using the current eviction ban as an excuse to avoid paying rent and while this is a very small proportion of tenants, it still poses a serious headache for landlords. Thankfully the government has now allowed landlords to include any unpaid rent accrued since the start of the pandemic to be included within the six month time frame at which point they can start eviction proceedings.

Of course, the ban itself poses a far more serious issue for some. Financial reasons aside, many of the most serious cases will be due to domestic violence or anti-social behaviour.

It’s fair to say that in these instances the government should not be protecting tenants from eviction, so it’s reassuring to see that these should continue to be considered on a case by case basis.

Landlords are the backbone of the rental market and all things considered, much more needs to be done to support them during this tough period.”

 

Survey of 992 UK landlords and 1,144 UK tenants carried out by Find Out How (January 9th 2021).

Note – Find Out How includes all responses from the Yorkshire and Humber region within the North East classification.

 

Landlord Survey
Q1 – Do you think the tenant eviction ban should have been reviewed and extended?
       
Answer Totals    
No 43%    
Yes 31%    
Prefer not to say 26%    
Sample Size: 992 UK Landlords    
       
Region No Yes Prefer not to say
East Midlands 45% 27% 28%
East Of England 46% 26% 28%
Greater London 31% 44% 25%
North East 51% 34% 15%
North West 39% 33% 27%
Northern Ireland 47% 24% 29%
Scotland 38% 43% 20%
The South East 45% 30% 25%
The South West 37% 30% 33%
Wales 38% 35% 26%
West Midlands 63% 21% 17%
Sample Size: 992 UK Landlords
       
Q2 – Have you seen your level of rental income reduce due to the pandemic?
       
Answer Totals    
No 66%    
Yes 23%    
Prefer not to say 11%    
Sample Size: 992 UK Landlords    
       
Region No Yes Prefer not to say
Greater London 57% 34% 9%
North East 69% 28% 3%
West Midlands 69% 25% 6%
Wales 61% 24% 16%
North West 59% 24% 18%
Scotland 70% 23% 7%
The South West 62% 22% 16%
The South East 71% 20% 9%
East Of England 73% 18% 8%
East Midlands 70% 17% 13%
Northern Ireland 70% 15% 15%
Sample Size: 992 UK Landlords
       
Q3 – Have you wanted to but been unable to evict a tenant?
       
Answer Totals    
No 77%    
Yes 12%    
Prefer not to say 11%    
Sample Size: 992 UK Landlords    
       
Region No Yes Prefer not to say
Northern Ireland 70% 20% 10%
Greater London 70% 17% 13%
Wales 66% 17% 17%
North West 73% 14% 13%
North East 81% 11% 8%
East Of England 82% 11% 7%
East Midlands 73% 10% 17%
The South West 74% 10% 16%
West Midlands 80% 10% 10%
The South East 84% 9% 7%
Scotland 87% 7% 6%
Sample Size: 992 UK Landlords
       
Tenant Survey
Q1 – Do you think the tenant eviction ban should have been reviewed and extended?
       
Answer Total %    
No 8%    
Yes 76%    
Prefer not to say 16%    
Sample Size: 1,144 UK tenants    
       
Region No Yes Prefer not to say
East Midlands 7% 77% 16%
East Of England 4% 78% 18%
Greater London 8% 80% 11%
North East 11% 75% 14%
North West 7% 74% 18%
Northern Ireland 0% 88% 12%
Scotland 10% 79% 10%
The South East 8% 80% 12%
The South West 10% 68% 22%
Wales 14% 67% 19%
West Midlands 9% 75% 16%
Sample Size: 1,144 UK tenants
       
Q2 – Has your financial situation worsened because of the current pandemic?
       
Answer Total %    
No 46%    
Yes 43%    
Sample Size: 1,144 UK tenants    
       
       
Region No Yes Prefer not to say
Northern Ireland 19% 67% 15%
West Midlands 45% 50% 5%
East Midlands 43% 48% 10%
Greater London 42% 47% 11%
East Of England 46% 44% 10%
North West 47% 42% 12%
The South East 49% 42% 10%
Wales 43% 41% 15%
North East 45% 41% 14%
Scotland 50% 41% 9%
The South West 53% 37% 10%
Sample Size: 1,144 UK tenants
       
Q3 – Have you struggled to or failed to pay the rent because of your financial situation?
       
Answer Total %    
No 74%    
Yes 18%    
Prefer not to say 9%    
Sample Size: 1,144 UK tenants    
       
Region No Yes Prefer not to say
Wales 60% 28% 12%
Northern Ireland 65% 27% 8%
Scotland 74% 21% 5%
West Midlands 72% 21% 8%
East Midlands 75% 20% 5%
The South West 75% 19% 7%
North West 71% 18% 11%
East Of England 71% 18% 12%
The South East 75% 15% 10%
Greater London 78% 13% 9%
North East 79% 11% 9%
Sample Size: 1,144 UK tenants