The British Property Federation (BPF) has repeated calls for direct payment to landlords from Local Housing Allowance (LHA) claimants to be reinstated.

This follows the publication of the LSL December Buy to Let Index which shows that 11.7% of all UK rent was unpaid or late by the end of December, rising from 9.7% in November. Unpaid rent totalled £276 million across the UK in December, the highest total since December 2009.

Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the British Property Federation, said: “Christmas is an expensive month for all with the pressure to ensure presents under the tree come the 25th. But Christmas should not be bankrolled by long suffering landlords by not passing on December’s rent.