Evictions crisis after lockdown rent debt soars to £126million
One in five tenants owe landlords cash
Thousands of tenants face being thrown on to the street after running up £126million worth of rent arrears during lockdown.
Evictions were banned during the pandemic but the restriction was lifted by the Scottish Government in May.
Already, 56 evictions hearings have been planned for this month and early December at tribunals.
The shock rent debt figures are contained in a report by researchers at Glasgow University who spoke to 1732 private landlords.
It found a total of 45,000 owners across Scotland with arrears totalling £126million – an average of £2800 per tenant.
Overall, landlords are owed money by one out of every five tenants, with 15,000 saying they would be prepared to evict them.
Report author Andrew Watson, a member of the university’s Urban Big Data Centre, said: “People have run up rent arrears who wouldn’t normally do so because of job losses or being furloughed by the pandemic.
“Some will be able to pay off the debt and come to arrangements with their landlords.
“However, there will be others unable to do that. In some cases, arrears will be considerable and those are the people who will face eviction.
“If you are in that situation, it’s obviously harrowing.”
The Scottish Government brought in a blanket ban on all evictions in April last year. The aim was to prevent them in the public and private sector and a rise in homelessness.
But it was lifted after 13 months when Scotland moved to level two.
Alison Watson, director of Shelter Scotland, said: “It has been a very tough and challenging year, with many families l iving under constant pressure to keep a roof over their heads and thousands of people losing their jobs. “We need to make sure anyone struggling with their housing can access the advice and support they need to avoid eviction and keep their home wherever possible. “Scotland must never go back to having hundreds hu of people sleeping rough ro and we must not return to having people evicted into homelessness.” ho
In I August the Sunday Mail revealed rev a 533 per cent increase in eevictions by social housing landlords lan including councils.
Figures F released by the Scottish Sco Housing Regulator showed sho 38 properties were seized seiz between April and June, compared com to six in the first three thre months of this year.
JohnJoh Blackwood, chief executive of ththe Scottish Association of LandLandlords, said: “While tenants have a responsibility to pay their rentrent, landlords always treat eviction action as a last resort.
“Our members have been working with tenants to reduce rents and write off arrears wherever possible.”
All eviction cases are now heard by the First Tier Tribunal for Scotland, which took over the role from the courts in 2017.
Sean Clerkin, campaign coordinator for the Scottish Tenants Organisation, said: “This research shows that 15,000 private sector landlords are going to evict financially vulnerable tenants in the months to come.
“This will overwhelm councils that have to provide temporary accommodation to homeless households. The solution is for the Scottish Government to restore the eviction ban and to help tackle the £126million of rent arrears.
“Anything less will be a disaster for the poor and destitute.”
A Scottish Courts and Tribunal service spokesman said: “From June 2021, there has been an increase in appl ications for eviction being received.”