Social housing rent arrears down ‘unexpectedly' in January, says Housemark

Rent arrears unexpectedly fell in January, according to Housemark’s latest survey of social landlords.

The benchmarking firm, in its monthly pulse report, said “true” rent arrears – which excludes arrears disputed or under review – stood at 2.78%. This is lower than the 2.95% reported for January last year and the 3.17% two years ago.

True arrears fell from 2.86% to 2.78%.

“This improvement is unusual for January, which typically sees arrears tick up after the Christmas period and rent-free weeks,” the report said.

Housemark said the strong arrears performance gives “grounds for cautious optimism” and if the current trend continues 2025/26 could see a record-low figure.

The research however shows a difference in arrears performance between social landlord types.

The decrease in median true arrears was mainly driven by housing associations, which saw a 4.4% drop, while arm’s length management associations recorded a 0.5% fall. Councils however saw a 2.7% increase year-on-year.

The report said: “Many housing associations invest in specialist rent collection teams and robust income management systems, making arrears a top priority - an approach that our data shows is paying dividends in lower arrears. Local authorities, juggling broader services with fewer dedicated income staff may find it harder to achieve smaller gains or declining performance.”

The report also found that, consistent with seasonal patterns, January saw a surge in responsive repairs – with a median rate of 327 repairs per 1,000 properties completed. This was the highest monthly volume Housemark has recorded since launching its Pulse reports in 2022.

The data in the report is based on figures supplied by 160 social housing providers.