9. Rent arrears and rents written off (Charts 12 & 13 )
Total rent arrears at 31 March 2009 were estimated at £37.3m, a rise of £1.8m or 5.1% on 31 March 2008. Nationally, rent arrears at 31 March 2009 represent 4.4% of standard rental income. The scale of rent arrears varies widely between councils, in 2008-09 accounting for up to 11.3% of standard rental income in Midlothian.
At 31 March 2009 there were 90,400 council tenants in arrears, an increase of 11,300 (14.2% rise) from 31 March 2008. The number of former tenants in arrears also rose, from 33,600 at 31 March 2008, to 34,900 at March 2009, an increase of 1,300 (4.0%).
In their 2009-10 budgets councils are budgeting to write off £10.2m of outstanding rent as unrecoverable. This represents 1.2% of standard rent income. Budgeted write-offs for 2009-10 vary from 0% in Shetland to 2.3% of standard rent income in Clackmannanshire. Amounts of arrears written off by councils can be influenced by councils' accounting policies and judgements on whether arrears are recoverable.
Note: There has been a revision to Stirling's rent arrears figure - this amendment was made on 2nd October 2009.