The chief executive of Generation Rent has told lenders they have a “moral obligation” to ensure tenants are able to stay in their homes as increasing numbers of landlords are, or will be, facing repossession orders because of falling into arrears.

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Chief executive of the charity Ben Twomey has sent an open letters to his counterparts of four lenders urging them not to repossess properties of landlords that have not been able to keep up with mortgage payments, and making tenants homeless. 

Twomey believes  repossessions from landlords will continue to increase over the coming months and he says as lenders have no problem with evicting the unfortunate tenants.

The Treasury and lenders reached an agreement on support for mortgage holders in debt, however it does not currently cover the BTL mortgage market with many landlords already on interest-only mortgages.

Figures collated by UK Finance finds that between April and June 440 BTL properties were repossessed by lenders and around 2,000 landlords are more than 10 per cent behind on their balance.

The financial service’s figures suggests that there are around 2 million buy-to-let mortgages in the UK.

UK Finance says the steep rise in interest rates has caused many landlords to be under major financial pressure. The Bank of England estimates that by the end of 2025 40 per cent of landlord mortgage payments could be worth more than 80 per cent of monthly rent.

Twomey says that it is highly probable for those landlords in this financial predicament, will fall behind with their mortgage payments will be at risk of repossession and “there is nothing their tenants can do about it.

“Eviction resulting from the actions of someone else is a very disruptive act with often severe consequences for the tenant that should be avoided wherever possible.”