Landlords can often benefit from being sympathetic towards tenants who fall on hard times during the recession, according to business planning advice from an information service for landlords and tenants.

Tessa Shepperson, solicitor at LandlordLaw.co.uk, said a good tenant is very valuable and it can be worth making some accommodation for them if they are made unemployed or temporarily have problems paying rent for some reason.

She added that if landlords do make an allowance, it is likely the tenant will be very grateful and make efforts to pay in the future and look after the property.

"People don't only lose their jobs in a recession; people can lose their jobs at any time and I think a good landlord will recognise that and make accommodations for a tenant who is a good tenant but is just in temporary difficulties," Ms Shepperson advised.

Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of unemployed people fell by 7,000 over the last quarter to 2.46 million.