Over 800,000 private renters in England and Wales have built rent arrears since lockdown measures began according to new research. 

A survey of tenants for the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) by the research consultancy, Dynata, suggests that 7% of private renters have built arrears due to Covid. 

Applied across the sector that would amount to 840,000 tenants. Whilst the average arrears were between £251 and £500, the survey finds that of those in arrears, 18% now have rent debts of more than £1,000. This would equate to over 150,000 renters. 

The survey finds that younger people are most likely to have been affected with 14% of renters aged 18 to 24 and 10% of those aged 25 to 34 having built arrears since March. The self-employed who rent were also most likely to be in arrears, with 17% saying they had developed rent debts since March. 

Regionally, 11% of renters in the West Midlands had built arrears since March, the largest proportion of any region in England and Wales. This was followed by London where 9% of renters had accrued arrears. 

To keep tenants in their homes, the NRLA is renewing its call for a financial package to help struggling renters to pay off arrears built since lockdown measures began.