75% of landlords surveyed are confident rental arrears will remain stable over the next 12 months.

Paragon Mortgages’ PRS Trends Survey results for the second quarter showed a 4% increase in those landlords who felt tenant rental arrears would remain stable, the third successive improvement.

The proportion of landlords reporting an expected increase remained low and unchanged from the previous quarter at 8% whilst those landlords expecting a decline in arrears was 6%.

The survey also revealed 17% of landlords are planning to purchase additional rental properties over the summer quarter. There was little movement in the most popular property types landlords are looking to buy, with terraced properties and semi-detached houses topping the list (38%), followed by 35% looking to buy apartments.

John Heron (pictured), director of Paragon Mortgages, said: “Landlords continue to experience strong tenant demand and are keen to add to their portfolios. The positive signals being picked up elsewhere around the economy also seem to have flowed through to the PRS with landlords experiencing low arrears and low, stable voids.”