Over 95% of private tenants are paying their rent or have made an arrangement with their landlord to pay a lower rent or defer payment during the pandemic, according to a new survey of tenants.

Independent polling for the National Residential Landlords Association finds that 87% of private tenants have paid their rent as normal throughout the pandemic. An additional 8% said that they had agreed a reduced rent, a rent-free period or made some other agreement with their landlord or letting agent.

The survey shows that just over 3% of tenants are building arrears and are unable or unwilling to repay these. Less than a third of all those with arrears (2% of the entire survey sample) have been served with a possession notice.

Further evidence that landlords are working to keep tenants in their homes comes from a separate survey, which shows that 55% of landlords who have granted at least one tenant a deferred rent or rent free period plan to absorb the losses from their own savings.

These figures come ahead of new rules being introduced which will mean courts can adjourn possession cases where landlords have failed to adequately explain the impact that the pandemic might have had on their tenants before seeking possession.