Landlords are exasperated: here is the number of unpaid rents - It's more than during Covid

Unpaid bills are increasing in number and are worrying owners.

It's every landlord's fear: renting out an apartment or house and not receiving the rent as agreed in the contract. This anxiety, coupled with the long and tedious legal process for recovering property in the event of long-term non-payment, as well as the winter truce law, discourages some from investing in real estate.

It must be said that the latest official figures on rent arrears are enough to make people feel cold. Even during Covid, a period when many households faced financial difficulties, the levels of arrears were not as high. This is a warning sign that the difficulties in finding housing are increasing.

According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Housing, each year, 1.5 million households "find themselves in arrears at some point." This represents a similar number of tenants who have not paid their rent on time at least once a year. This represents 1% of all tenants, both in the private and social housing sectors.

"These unpaid bills can be due to an oversight, a one-off difficulty with unforeseen financing, or a more structural situation such as the long-term loss of a job," the ministry explains. In two out of three cases, the problem is eventually resolved.

However, another important figure emerges from this study: approximately 500,000 households receive a payment order. This is a document delivered by a bailiff to the tenant's home to order them to pay their debt. Above all, it is the first mandatory step for a landlord to evict the tenant. A sign that many property owners find themselves in a difficult situation.

Problem: The legislative ridge line is very narrow, making the issue difficult to amend. "The objective is twofold: to secure landlords, some of whom depend on rents for their livelihood, and to protect bona fide tenants against the risk of exclusion, with the risk of people being put out on the street," the government concedes, explaining that it is working on "an action plan to prevent and address unpaid rent." It's not certain that this will be enough to reassure landlords.