More than £3m in rental arrears has built up over the Covid crisis, according to figures from The Lettings Industry Council.
The ban on evictions has also put 2,444 court possession cases on hold, analysis by the group which represents 100 property firms has shown.
For landlords with tenants in arrears, the average amount they are owed is £1,250, the Council revealed in data shared with The Telegraph today.
At the start of June the government announced it was extending the ban on new evictions until August 23, bringing the total moratorium up to five months.
In May the recently-formed National Residential Landlords Association released research suggesting that 44 per cent of the 4,500 landlords it surveyed had been asked for help by their tenants, and of those 90 per cent had been able to provide it.
Support included rent reductions or deferrals, rent-free periods, early release from tenancies or refunds on service charges from houses in multiple occupation
More than half landlords told the NRLA they had been affected in some way by the impact of the virus on tenants.
A total of 54 per cent were experiencing issues with tenants paying the rent, unexpected voids or a combination of both.
Of the landlords who said they were struggling with tenants falling into arrears 60 per cent have lost at least a month’s income across their portfolio.
Flatfair founder and chief executive Franz Doerr says: “Today’s figures from The Lettings Industry Council do not come as a great surprise but underline the threat that coronavirus poses to the rental market.
“Renters do not have as much breathing room to cut back on spending, leaving them vulnerable to economic shocks.
“Many tenants have been hit hard financially, either through being furloughed or losing their job altogether and this adds to the financial pressure that they may already be under.
“More action needs to be taken to support tenants and landlords alike to communicate, and ensure that a fair equitable solution is found in the unfortunate cases where a tenant cannot pay their rent.”
