Breaking: Eviction proceedings are to be delayed by three months during crisis

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Tenants who are suffering financial difficulties and cannot pay their rent will be spared eviction proceedings under emergency legislation due to be enacted in parliament.

The government has revealed the full details of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement in parliament yesterday of plans to ‘ban evictions’ during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of a complete ban,
landlords will have to wait three months before starting eviction proceedings
against a tenant if their financial difficulties are related to Coronavirus.

Late yesterday evening the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government released a statement
saying that it would bring forward emergency legislation to introduce the
changes.

These will suspend new
evictions from social or private rented accommodation while ‘this national
emergency is taking place’ and that ‘no new possession proceedings through applications
to the court’ will start during the crisis.

Indicating how long the
government believes this crisis may last, the statement also says that: “Landlords will not
be able to start proceedings to evict tenants for at least a three-month period”.

It has also been announced that pre-action protocols, which are used within the social landlord sector within England and Wales to ensure that the necessary information is before a court at the first hearing, are to be strengthened and widened to include tenants within the private rented sector.

“This will support
the necessary engagement between landlords and tenants to resolve disputes and
landlords will have to reach out to tenants to understand the financial
position they are in,” the statement says.

Secretary
of State Robert Jenrick says: “The government is clear – no renter who has lost
income due to coronavirus will be forced out of their home.”

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No Rent For Buy To Let Landlords

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Its a distressing time for Buy To Let (BTL) Landlords with tenants affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19). Now if tenants don’t pay their rent, landlords won’t be able to evict them for non rent payment using a Section 21 notice.

This poses a problem if tenants start to demand rent payment holidays of their landlords.

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Coronavirus: Buy-to-let payment holiday and eviction ban announced

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Payment holidays for landlords with buy-to-let mortgages are among a package of measures introduced by the government today in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The payment holidays, for up to three months, will be offered on the understanding the benefit is to be passed on to the tenant. The move follows extensive lobbying on the […]

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Prime Minister confirms all UK’s 20 million tenants to be protected from eviction during pandemic

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After several days of campaigning by politicians and housing charities, the government has accepted that Coronavirus makes evictions unacceptable.

Laws to protect tenants from eviction are be brought forward by the government within its emergency legislation package, the Prime Minister has confirmed today.

His response followed a question asked by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during Prime Minister’s Question Time in the Commons.

“Yesterday the Chancellor, unfortunately, offered nothing to the 20 million people living in rented homes, including three million households with children,” said Corbyn.

“These people are worried sick that they will not be able to pay their rent if they get ill, lose pay or feel that they need to self-isolate.

“It is in the interests of public health, of the health of all of us, that people do not feel forced to go to work in order to avoid eviction when they know that they may be spreading this terrible disease, so will the Prime Minister now confirm that the Government’s emergency legislation will protect private renters from eviction?”.

Johnson replied that Corbyn had made a ‘series of powerful points’ and said: “I can indeed confirm that we will be bringing forward legislation to protect private renters from eviction.

“That is one thing we will do, but it is also important that, as we legislate, we do not simply pass on the problem, so we will also be taking steps to protect other actors in the economy.”

Pressure has been building for several days now for the government to take this decision, including research released today by housing charity Shelter that showed some 50,000 people could be evicted over the next six months as the pandemic plays out.

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Landlord’s ‘coronavirus’ holiday home promotion sparks social media outcry

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Isle of Skye company offers mainlanders a place to escape the pandemic for £3,100 but promotion backfires after leading politician savages it online.

A landlord promoting his
holiday homes on the Isle of Skye as somewhere for guests to escape the threat
of coronavirus has sparked an outcry on social media.

For £3,100 a month, up to eight people can stay in
one of Skye Serviced
Accommodation’s 23 lets or ‘isolation solutions’ where holidaymakers can protect their
loved ones after being tested to ensure they’re all illness-free.

Owner
Ben Greer will provide food and supplies to temporary tenants for £100 per
person per night – however, they have to pay up front and agree to stay for at
least one month. This buys a food delivery, but not the food itself, a weekly
change of towels and linens and a cleaning kit for the property.

Comparing
the pandemic to warfare, his online listing explains: “I am an ex-Royal Air
Force Chinook helicopter crewman having served six operational front-line tours
of Afghanistan. I understand what an emergency is and will go as far as it
takes to mitigate transmission of the current threat.”

It
adds: “I cannot guarantee that you won’t get the virus here, but I can say that
the risks are severely cut to a minimum and that we will use all available
powers to deliver a sanitised and procedurally safe environment.”

The
listing was attacked by many for profiteering on social media, including
Scottish Greens MSP Andy Wightman, who tweeted: “The country faces a crisis. Folk can’t afford homes on
Skye. But this scumbag outfit is advertising 23 short-term lets for
self-isolation.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlord’s ‘coronavirus’ holiday home promotion sparks social media outcry | LandlordZONE.

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Britain urged to join global trend and ban evictions until pandemic is over

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Cities in Spain and the US have already banned evictions and pressure group Generation Rent says the UK should follow suit, despite scant evidence that Coronavirus-linked evictions are taking place.

Generation
Rent is urging the Government to follow cities around the world which have
halted evictions for tenants affected by Coronavirus.

The pressure group wants to see a temporary end to all
Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and Section 8 evictions for rent arrears, as
well as the removal of the five-week wait for Housing Benefit, and to ensure this
covers rent costs. 

It is also calling for a one-year rent increase freeze to
prevent landlords from raising rents to unaffordable levels.

Although some
landlords may view these demands as extreme and even foolhardy, Generation Rent
may get its way.

When Chancellor
Rishi Sunak announced a three-month mortgage holiday for struggling homeowners
yesterday, he also told the House of Commons: “The Housing Secretary will, in
the coming days, make a statement with further measures to protect renters
through these difficult times.”

Generation believes renters are particularly vulnerable
to the effects of Coronavirus as two- thirds have no savings and typically
spend 40% of their income on rent.

Renters who lose income can claim Universal Credit, which
includes housing benefit, but the five-week wait leaves them vulnerable to rent
arrears and eviction, says the group.

Tenants are being advised to contact their landlord for a rent holiday, but there’s no obligation for them to offer one.

Areas of
Spain and cities across the USA have now halted evictions for the duration of
the pandemic, with France making funds available to postpone rent payments
altogether. 

Caitlin
Wilkinson, policy manager at Generation Rent, says renters shouldn’t have to
choose between staying healthy and keeping a roof over their head.

“Without further
protection, millions of renters will be unable to pay their rent and will be
reliant on the goodwill of their landlord,” she says. “We know that many
landlords will take action to evict tenants, leaving them homeless in the midst
of a pandemic.”

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Temporary solution to rent payment issues following Covid-19 advice

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Government advice to restrict the spread of Coronavirus is, and will obviously have, a detrimental knock on effect to levels of employment, wages and self employed income.

Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party are pushing hard for legislation such that non-payment of rent due to Coronavirus would not count as legal grounds for eviction.

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‘Stop all new property licensing activity for six months’, say leading organisations

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Accreditation scheme safeagent and consultancy London Property Licensing have joined forces to claim that now is not the time to be extending or introducing Select or HMO licensing schemes.

All proposed new or expanded property licensing schemes should be put on ice for six months until the Coronavirus pandemic is over, two leading organisations have said.

Accreditation scheme safeagent and housing consultancy London Property Licensing are calling for both new HMO or Select Licensing schemes to be delayed and reviewed again in six months’ time.

This, they claim, will free up local authority resources and discourage non-essential property inspection that ‘could add to community spread of the virus’.

The two organisations are asking Secretary of State Robert Jenrick to introduce a six-month moratorium on approving any more selective or HMO licensing schemes.

They are also calling on local authorities to pause any new additional or selective licensing scheme designations for six months, while any existing consultations not already underway should be delayed, also for six months.

“This is not an anti-licensing proposal, but rather a sensible measure in response to Coronavirus,” says Isobel Thomson, CEO of safeagent.

“Right now, the sector needs to hunker down. We need to free up local government and lettings industry resources to focus on more urgent tasks.”

Richard Tacagni, MD of London Property Licensing, says: “It seems likely that the limited resources in local government, and the expertise offered by Environmental Health Officers, will need to be re-focused on maintaining key public services to support the wider public health agenda.”

Exclusive: what would this mean in London?

London Property Licensing has compiled this list of ‘live’ proposed consultations and schemes in London including those that would be affected by a six-month moratorium (in bold).

• Camden: recently consulted on renewal of their additional licensing (AL) scheme. Current scheme ends Dec 2020
• Croydon: recently consulted on renewal of their selective licensing (SL) scheme. Current scheme ends Sept 2020
• Enfield: new AL scheme starts Sept 2020; awaiting decision about proposed SL scheme
• Havering: consultation on new AL & SL schemes ended Sept 2019; awaiting decision on implementation
• Hounslow: recently consulted on new AL scheme; awaiting decision
• Islington: recently consulted on new AL scheme; awaiting decision
• Lewisham: recently consulted on new AL & SL schemes; awaiting decision
• Waltham Forest: AL scheme approved and starts 1 April; SL scheme renewal approved and starts 1 May

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Sometimes, some things have just got to be said

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Sometimes, some things have just got to be said, because what tenants think is helping them, is in fact doing the opposite (see screenshot below).

Unbelievable! This Corbyn and Labour anti-landlord people publicising tenants should get a break from paying the rent.

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Covid19 and Gas safety Certificates?

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Just been talking to my Gas engineer about Covid 19 and he is considering battening down for the next few months, I wonder where we all stand over annual safety certs if you cannot get an engineer to visit premises?

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