Rent arrears have rocketed in Scotland for social rented homes as the cost-of-living crisis hits people’s incomes.

In the last two years, arrears to councils and housing associations have gone up by £23m.

And it is expected to get more serious as the report by the housing regulator noted: "Tenants and their families are facing an incredibly difficult and worrying period ahead."

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Almost one in three tenants said they are having difficulty paying their rent and other housing costs, but with costs rising seven out of ten said they were worried about affording the rent in the future.

And more than nine out of ten said the rising cost of energy and food was a worry.

The rent arrears total was the highest level since the Scottish Social Housing Charter was set up in 2012.

In March 2022, the amount owed in arrears was £169.6m, a £9m increase on the year before and up £23m from 2020 when it was £146.8m

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The housing regulator said: “The level of rent arrears is an indicator of stress on household finances.

“The support and advice provided to tenants by social landlords, alongside Government initiatives to support households financially, has undoubtedly helped to mitigate the scale of increases in rent arrears as a result of the impact of the pandemic.

“However, social landlords reported the highest level of arrears since the introduction of the Social Housing Charter, with total arrears of rent of £169,626,857 at 31 March 2022, 6.3% of total rent due and up from 6.1% in the previous year.”

There is a rent freeze until the end of March next year, but rents in the social sector would not be set for 2023/24 until April 1.

However, the regulator noted housing associations will need to recognise the hardship many tenants are facing.

It added: “It is clear that the forthcoming annual rent setting exercise, and potentially those for some years to come, is likely to be the most difficult that social landlords have faced, in which they will need to consider rising costs and inflation while recognising the financial hardship that is a reality for many of their tenants and a heightened potential for Government intervention in rent setting.

“This will inevitably mean that landlords will face some difficult choices and decisions as a result. It is this very context, however, that means keeping tenants’ rents as affordable as possible has never been more important.”

Sean Clerkin, of the Scottish Tenants Organisation, said: “The temporary rent freeze and eviction ban in Scotland until the end of March 2023 should both be extended to two years' duration to give some security to hard-pressed, low-income families and has to include both the private and socially rented sectors.

"This will be the only way to stop homelessness on a mass scale.”