Manchester Property News

Alaine Bradbury, Estates Manager for PAD4U writes:

Research has recently been published by the National Landlords Association (NLA) showing that nearly half of recent possessions by landlords are due to tenants not paying their rent.

We have found that over the last 12 months many of our tenants are falling into arrears for various reasons. We contact tenants who fall into arrears on a weekly basis by letter, telephone, email and visiting them. We try to establish the reason for the arrears, aiming to help them set up a payment arrangement for the arrears where possible or help them process a housing benefit claim.

Once a tenant falls into arrears we automatically serve them with an eviction notice even if they have set up a payment plan. This is used as a backup measure should the tenant not stick to the plan or fall behind further with the rent, we are able to action a repossession on behalf of the landlord. Eviction notices are also used to speed up any housing benefit claim.

So far during 2010 we have served over 200 eviction notices however we have repossessed only one property on behalf of our landlord for rent arrears.  PAD4U have worked hard during this difficult economic period in time to ensure our rent arrears remain minimal, by being proactive and tackling any problems as soon as they begin to occur.