Ben Beadle (pictured), chief executive of the National Association of Residential Landlords, warned that allowing tenants to fall into rent arrears for up to three months would leave many tenants unable to pay.
He said this would hurt their credit ratings and limit their ability to access housing and other services in the future. 
The warning comes as the government's Tenants Bill of Rights proposes to increase the amount of rent arrears a tenant can build up before a landlord serves a notice to repossess the property, from two to three months. .
In no other area will the government allow consumer debt to continue for months on end. ”
Additionally, the bill seeks to double the notice period that landlords must give in such cases before waiting an average of seven months for courts to process and enforce such claims.
To ensure fair treatment for both tenants and landlords, the NRLA requires:
Landlords and rental agents are required to work with tenants and take early action if they notice signs of rent arrears. Governments and courts should adopt the NRLA's established Golden Rule as a blueprint to support these arguments. These have been cited by the government as best practice for supporting tenants in rent arrears during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this Parliament, we will provide certainty for tenants and landlords by linking housing benefit rates to market rents. Responsible landlords have confidence in what they can do. Properties that are in arrears equal to two months' rent, as they are now, will be immediately repossessed rather than being allowed to build indefinitely. priority
Beadle said: “For landlords and the government, preventing rent arrears in the first place is a top priority and no more construction should be allowed.
“Landlords should make every effort to help tenants overcome their debts as quickly as possible.
“However, landlords should reasonably expect to be able to quickly regain possession of the property they are renting if a tenant reaches two months' arrears, as they are currently doing. There is no way the government will allow debt to pile up for months on end, with all the damage done to consumers' credit ratings.”
