Scottish tenants are paying off late rent amid improving household finances, according to Your Move. 

As of January the proportion of late rent has fallen to represent 11.1 per cent of all rent due in the month. This is an improvement on 11.4 per cent seen in December and represents the lowest level of late rent in Scotland seen since July.

Previously, arrears surged over the autumn to reach a record high of 13.8 per cent in October before beginning to improve. 

However, tenants’ finances remain in worse shape than 12 months ago when in January 2015 as little as 7.1 per cent of all rent due was late.

“With a record number of Scots in work by the end of 2015 there finally seems to be some momentum pushing down the frequency of late rent payments. Over the course of last year we saw a considerable increase in the proportion of tenants unable to keep pace with their bills, but tenants appear to be over the hump” explains Brian Moran, lettings director of Your Move in Scotland.

“But we’re not on the home straight just yet. The Scottish unemployment rate is still above UK levels, and parts of Scotland are also on the frontline of the current oil price slump. Wider economic factors will be decisive in determining whether tenant arrears continue in this downward direction” he says.