The number of tenants severely behind on rental payments has fallen by 35% over the past 12 months, with 35,000 fewer tenants are facing rental arrears of more than two months according to the latest Tenant Arrears Tracker by LSL Property Services.

In absolute terms, those who are more than two months behind on their rent now number just 67,000, compared with 102,000 tenants at least two months in arrears in Q2 2013.

Paul Jardine, director and receiver at Templeton LPA which is part of LSL, said: “Private renting has absorbed enormous pressure – and will continue to do so.  For over half a decade, our national aspiration to own our own homes has struggled in the face of the longest economic crisis on record.  And in the midst of this, private renting has provided a solution.

“Certainly, some households succumbed to the wave of unemployment that followed the 2008 crisis, and as the broader monthly squeeze tightened its grip.  For a time – though still for only a small minority of tenants – there was a significant rise in serious rental arrears.  But now as the jobs market gradually comes back to life, the effect on the most hard-pressed of households is clear to be seen.

“While wages are yet to pick up significantly, those in the most serious financial problems often face a lack of any earnings at all.  So as the risk of unemployment retreats this year, those with serious problems paying their rent – and most at risk from losing their homes – are benefiting the most.”

As a proportion of all tenants, those in serious arrears amounted to only 1.5% in Q2 2014, compared to 2.2% in Q2 2013. 

Overall tenant arrears stands at just 7% as of May 2014, down from 8.2% in May 2013 according to LSL’s latest Buy-to-Let Index.