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After 18-plus months, it now seems as if the country is slowly coming out of the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19.

It has been over a year since COVID-19 hit the UK. Throughout the pandemic, we have been studying tenant arrears to give a picture of how tenants, landlords and agents are coping with the pandemic and publishing our findings in a series of Special Reports.

More than a year since the world went into lockdown, the effects of COVID-19 can still be seen and felt in the South African rental market.

The South African rental property industry, like many other sectors, continues to feel the effects of COVID-19 with a shrinking viable tenant pool, lower tenant affordability and high arrears.

2020 won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Individuals, households, businesses and whole industries had to adapt to the threat of COVID-19 and deal with unprecedented uncertainty.

As part of our third PayProp special report on COVID-19 rental arrears in the UK, we surveyed over 600 agents, tenants and landlords from across the country about their experiences during the pandemic and their predictions for 2021.

At the end of a year that has seen the country and the property industry scrape the bottom of the barrel for good news stories, letting agencies and landlords can breathe a cautious sigh of relief.

There are no easy years in the property management industry, and 2020 was more difficult than most – but waiting for certainty puts your future growth at risk.