Repayment agreements cover 65% of Gib's £4.9m rent arrears, Govt says 

The amount of rent arrears for Gibraltar’s housing estates stands at £4.9M with 35% of that, £1.7M, deemed “very difficult to recover” by the Government. 

The Government was answering questions from the Chronicle following the rental arrears figure being updated to reflect the situation as at September 2026.  

Of the £4.9M rent due, an estimated £519,000 relates to former tenants.  

“This includes write-offs, deceased, moved away, purchased a house elsewhere, moved to ERS, home repossessed or decanted,” said the Government. 

Although the Government stated that some 35% of the debt will be difficult to recover, tenants who account for the remaining 65% have repayment agreements in place.  

Statistics show that in 2015, rental arrears had reached £6M, the highest figure in the past 14 years to date. By 2018 that figure was down to £4.7M.  

Up until 2022 this number increased year on year but never exceeded £4.8. In 2022 itself, the number dropped to £4.2M.  

However, since then it has risen again. 

“It is very difficult to specify exactly why figures have increased since 2022,” said the Government.  

“One of the reasons is that approximately £300,000 of write-offs are still in our books since 2024.” 

The other amount of approximately £200,000 could include all the write-offs that form part of the £519,000, it added.  

“The bottom line is that the real amount of debt with no agreements etc and which will be very difficult to recover is approximately £1.7 million,” it said. 

The Government also confirmed that the total rent arrears include arrears relating to homes in estates leased to Gibraltar Capital Assets Limited (GCAL).  

The six Government housing estates held under long-term leases by Gibraltar Capital Assets Limited (GCAL) are Alameda, Glacis, Laguna, Moorish Castle, Mid-Harbour and Varyl Begg.