Coronavirus: Generous landlord offers rent reduction for NHS staff

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A kind-hearted landlord is prepared to offer a considerable rent reduction for her two bedroom flat in Weybridge, Surrey, for tenants who work in the NHS. Sally-Anne Evans, who also owns a distribution business, has contacted the hospital trust close to the property to ask if they have any nurses or doctors who would be […]

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BREAKING: Stop property viewings and routine inspections, landlords are told

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The latest advice issued today is that although tradespeople can complete repairs at properties if they take precautions, landlords should avoid face-to-face contact with existing or prospective tenants.

The government has told landlords and letting agents that they should not conduct house viewings or complete routine inspections of properties, but has said that their tradespeople can complete emergency repairs.

But confirmation has yet to come through from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government about essential tasks such as gas safety and electrical equipment testing and whether these will be exempt from the lockdown as ‘essential services’.

It is also understood that ministers are considering whether to allow many of the companies serving the private rented sector to continue doing their work if a property is owned by someone working in frontline health and emergency services.

Until yesterday industry organisation Gas Safe Register was recommending to landlords that they book inspections by an approved engineer as soon as possible if their renewal date was within the next two months.

The organisation says that following the lock-down announcement last night, it is urgently seeking guidance from the Cabinet Office and the Health and Safety Executive about whether residential property safety inspections will be deemed ‘essential services’.

Also, landlords who are refurbishing properties can continue their work as construction sites have also been given the green light as essential service, it was confirmed this morning.

But all this advice from government remains just that – guidance; the necessary legislation to make it an offence to ignore the rules has yet to make its way through parliament, although this is expected to be achieved at any moment.

One grey area is whether landlords can help tenants move into or out of a property; there are a large number of outstanding rental tenancy contracts that were signed and paid for up-front before the Coronavirus shutdown, and now lockdown, gripped the nation.

These are now progressing as expected and LandlordZONE understand many inventory clerks continue to work if the properties are being taken up or vacated by people working in frontline services such as nurses.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BREAKING: Stop property viewings and routine inspections, landlords are told | LandlordZONE.

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We want to help – Recovering deferred rent?

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We want to help our tenants in difficulty by giving them initially, a 3-month deferment of their rent. Not a gift or free ride – just no rent to be paid for 3 months, but then (assuming/hoping) things get back to normal

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Lettings agency offers £250 cash to landlords and tenants working for the NHS

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The Coronavirus is bringing out the better side of human nature, if one firm’s attempts to helps those working at the front line of the capital’s health services is anything to go by.

London-based property firm Draker Lettings is helping both landlords and tenants who work for the NHS by doing their shopping and handing out sums of cash for those in need.

Although Draker Lettings offices are shut, staff are working remotely and doing their bit during the crisis, shopping for people who are unable to get out because of ill health or because they’re caring for an elderly parent.

The
charitable company has contacted these landlords and tenants with its offer of support
and resources, announcing, ‘If you need help with groceries, we can assist with
the collection and delivery of vital supplies and treats’.

‘If you need any
assistance that may require a car such as making a delivery or checking on a relative,
we would be happy to help.’

It has also
set up a fund of £250 each for any tenant or landlord working for the NHS who
really needs financial help, adding that it wants to say, ‘a big heartfelt
thankyou to you for your part in helping us through this difficult time’.

MD Tim
Hassell says they’ve had a good response to the offer. “My team are very stressed about their families and their livelihoods and
this initiative has clearly demonstrated what we can achieve if we are selfless
in a time of need – something good, small and manageable to focus on,” he says. 

“It has been very soothing and therapeutic for all of us and as a
company, we will continue to offer these additional services for as long as
they are required.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Lettings agency offers £250 cash to landlords and tenants working for the NHS | LandlordZONE.

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Will Bridging lender stop the clock?

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To keep it brief, bought a property that consists of 3 flats using Bridging finance. They need refurbishment to be put into rentable condition and then refinance longer term on to a Buy to Let mortgage.

Two months in to the refurbishment and four months left to go the builders and now suppliers closing down!

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Evictions latest: New legislation is savaged as a ‘bit of a mess’

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As proposed changes to the Housing Act 1988 move swiftly through parliament without debate – so far – campaigners worry the ‘evictions ban’ isn’t what Boris Johnson promised last week.

Renters haven’t been given the extra protection they were promised by the Government, which could spell a spate of evictions in June and won’t prevent existing eviction proceedings from being completed, it has been claimed.

While
the Government has announced that landlords can’t start proceedings
to evict tenants for at least a three-month period, the
pressure group says the Coronavirus Bill simply extends the notice required for
possession from two months to three.

Leading housing lawyer and RLA spokesman David Smith says the way these changes are being introduced is a ‘bit of a mess’: “The residential provisions appear to be rather different from those specified by the government,” he says.

“There is nothing in
them about stopping existing evictions or preventing eviction proceedings from
being issued.”

He says the full details of the eviction ban, which is an amendment of the Housing Act 1988, will not become clear until tomorrow. But he worries it will allow existing eviction proceedings to continue and only stop new ones, and that it doesn’t cover any of the more unusual tenancies.

Promises not delivered

Caitlin
Wilkinson, policy manager at Generation Rent, says: “This legislation fails to
deliver on these promises in every respect.

“It
is disingenuous. All these measures do is extend the notice period for
evictions to three months, which will provide little comfort to those faced
with losing their homes during a pandemic.”

Generation
Rent says landlords can still serve eviction notices during the three months,
which could mean a rush of evictions at the end of June. “Eviction is the
leading cause of homelessness, so the Government must act now to avoid another
crisis in three months’ time,” she adds.

However,
Gavin Dick, local authority policy officer at the National Landlords
Association, believes most landlords would not serve notices, as if they tried
to start an eviction now, it would be frowned upon when it came to court in
June.

“If
you went to court in 12 weeks’ time and said you were evicting someone, would
the judge give a landlord back the property straight away? Probably not,” he
tells LandlordZONE.

He says local authorities are trying hard to work with landlords to find solutions to help tenants who are in difficulty, including offering discretionary housing payments. Landlords are also doing their bit, he adds: “One landlord I spoke to has given his tenant – a barmaid who’s just lost her job – a rent holiday for a couple of months to help her.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Evictions latest: New legislation is savaged as a ‘bit of a mess’ | LandlordZONE.

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Today in politics: Coronavirus Bill, gas safety and rogue landlord database

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We look at the Coronavirus Bill, which will today be debated in the Lords, gas safety advice, questions from MPs on the impact of Covid-19 on renters and latest data from the rogue landlord database. Coronavirus Bill  The House of Commons completed its deliberations on the Coronavirus Bill yesterday.  This includes the changes related to evictions in […]

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British takeaways campaign for rent holidays

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Rent Holidays:

In the wake of the
coronavirus British restaurants and takeaways are asking their
landlords to allow them a rent holiday as they say their businesses
are “on the brink”.

The British Takeaway
Campaign (BTC) represents restaurants and takeaways throughout the
country, most of them small businesses without huge resources behind
them.

Most commercial
tenants pay their rents quarterly in advance on the quarter days, and
as the next one is due next week (1^st April) the group is
calling for an immediate three-month freeze.

The BTC group has
warned that without this help from landlords, many thousands of
Britain’s restaurants and takeaways will be facing insolvency “within
weeks, if not days”.

Ibrahim Dogus BTC
chair has written a letter to the major landlord trade bodies
including the British Property Federation and Revo:

“We appreciate
that landlords will have significant concerns for their income and in
recent years have had to cope with the demise of traditional
retailing and its impact on the high street,”

“However,
restaurants and takeaways simply do not have the capital to meet
their rent obligations while they struggle to cope with the
challenges coronavirus has brought.”

Dogus reminded
landlords that without the survival of these restaurants they would
be facing long voids with no rents and business rates to pay. It
would be of “mutual interest” to save these businesses says
Dugas.

Prime Minister Boris
Johnson had ordered the closure of all pubs, restaurants and bars
across the UK from last Sunday, and he appealed to all people to stay
at home and isolate unless absolutely necessary, and to avoid close
contact other than with family members (social distance – keeping 2
metres apart), to help to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Restaurants are to
be allowed to offer takeaway services while taking precautionary
measures, but this will put even more pressure on traditional
takeaways if pubs and restaurants enter the takeaway market, as they
appear to be doing.

The BTC has
confirmed that the British hospitality industry is “on the brink”,
stating that while some landlords have moved to offering rent
holidays or deferments / rescheduling of rent payments, these appear
to remained in the minority.

“Our members tell
us that the majority of landlords are refusing to provide any
flexibility on this issue. In our view, this is irresponsible,”
says Dogus.

Pubs and restaurants
are already laying off staff due to the crisis, but chancellor Rishi
Sunak last week said the government would underwrite wages and pay up
to 80 per cent of the wages for those staff who are unable to work as
a result of Covid-19.

*The traditional English quarter days are: March 25, June 24, September 29 and December 25. In Scotland the traditional quarter days or term days are: 28 February, 28 May, 28 August, 28 November. The modern quarter days: 1 January, 1 April, 1 July.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – British takeaways campaign for rent holidays | LandlordZONE.

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Progress on adding names to rogue landlord database remains ‘glacial’

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Nearly two years after being launched, the government’s initiative to help councils report the industry’s worst offenders to a national database has now reached 25 entries, or approximately one a month since April 2018.

A further seven landlords and property agents have been added to the government’s flagship ‘rogue database’, housing minister Chris Pincher has revealed.

Some 25 entries are now included within the database, up from 18 six weeks ago, suggesting councils are beginning to secure more banning orders, albeit very slowly.

The information came from a short answer by housing minister Chris Pincher in a written statement to parliament.

This was in answer to a question by Luke Pollard, the shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Pincher confirmed that the database contains 25 entries.

To be included in the database a landlord or property agent must be convicted of a banning order offence and receive a banning order.

When launching the scheme in the spring 2018, the government said it thought there were 10,500 rogue landlords operating within the property market, or 0.7% of the estimated 1.5 million private landlords in the UK.

The government said in July last year that it would open it up to the public. A consultation was completed into the proposals in early October last year but no decision has been taken as civil servants analyse the feedback.

As well as opening up the database, the government also wants to extend the range of offences or infringements that it covers.

This includes failing to provide councils with information when requested, not dealing with mice or rat infestations, causing a nuisance, not providing land information and permitting overcrowding.
 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Progress on adding names to rogue landlord database remains ‘glacial’ | LandlordZONE.

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Gas Safe – Advice and suspension of Safety inspections

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As of the evening of 23rd March, Gas Safe expect to suspend Gas Safety inspections until they have more guidance.

“We anticipate that we will need to continue, but will confirm this soon, once we the guidance from Cabinet Office and HSE on what they need from the industry to support the nation.

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