Responding to confirmation by the Government of its plans to taper down emergency restrictions in the private rented sector, Ben Beadle, chief executive at the NRLA, said: “Having operated under emergency conditions for over a year, the announcement from the Government is an important step in ensuring the sector’s recovery.

 “It does nothing though to address the rent debt crisis. With the number of private tenants in arrears having increased threefold since lockdown measures started, more are at risk of losing their homes as restrictions ease. We want to see tenancies sustained wherever possible and call on the Chancellor to step in and provide affected tenants with the financial support they need to pay off rent arrears built as a result of the pandemic.”