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Average cost of evicting rogue tenants reaches eye-watering £31k

Claim by leading letting agency Benham & Reeves includes lost rent, refit costs and legal fees.

Nigel Lewis

evictions

The average cost of rogue tenant evictions in the UK has reached £31,886 and takes nine months to achieve according to research by a leading letting agent.

London company Benham & Reeves has included lost rent (£6,111), property refitting and redecoration costs (£22,775) and legal fees (£3,000) to arrive at the figure.

Outside London (£41,318) the most expensive hotspots are Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Edinburgh, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Cardiff and Liverpool all of which feature average eviction costs of between £38,069 and £30,266.

The London borough of Kensington & Chelsea has the highest eviction cost at an eye-watering £54,647.

Benham & Reeve’s research will be food for thought in government circles and is based on an average rent of £679 per property across the UK.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been consulting on controversial proposals to reform evictions, abolishing so-called ‘no fault’ Section 21 notices and changing the way Section 8 notices are used.

“Rogue tenants are a landlord’s worst nightmare and apart from the stress and time consumed dealing with them, the financial impact can be crippling,” says Marc von Grundherr  (left) of Benham & Reeves.

“We’re not talking about a bad apple that doesn’t pay rent for the last two months of a tenancy and leaves a dirty protest on their way out.

“We’re talking about serious criminal organisations that know the letter of the law and every trick in the book to prevent you from getting rid of them, including how to stall the court date for weeks on end and how to deter the bailiff through threats of violence when they finally do call.”

 

August 15, 2019

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