Landlords face tough choice as energy bills soar

Landlords with larger properties are facing a surge in rental arrears as energy bills rise and local authorities do not plug gaps in housing benefit. Buy-to-let investors who own shared houses let on a room-by-room basis will need to either shoulder the costs of rising energy bills themselves or raise the rent and make properties potentially unaffordable for their tenants. Owners of HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) typically include energy bills and council tax in the overall rent bill. Chris Norris of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: "The impact of rising costs is compounded for those who rely on Universal Credit as the Government has elected to disregard spiking inflation and leave vulnerable households to struggle with living costs."

The Daily Telegraph