Government claims success for Universal Credit during crisis, but leading expert disagrees

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Benefits boss Neil Couling says his civil servants have handled huge increase in claims, but leading expert says it’s been less of a humdinger for tenants and landlords.

More
Universal Credit payments are being paid on time than ever before, with 100,000
claimants due to receive the benefit today, the busiest since the new benefit
was introduced.

The Department
for Work and Pensions (DWP) has had more than 1.8 million Universal Credit
claims during the lockdown, compared to 55,000 in a typical week, which would
add up to about 330,000 claims over the same period.

Universal
Credit director general Neil Couling says 93% of payments are being made on
time compared with about 87% in normal circumstances.

He
also claims that most problems are caused when DWP staff have to chase essential
information that hasn’t been supplied by claimants. Those applying must wait
five weeks for their first payment while they’re assessed and the money is sent
to their account.

Says
Couling: “The first claims were received on 16^th March, so we are
now about two weeks into those payments due.

“The claimants have gone through the first monthly assessment periods and remarkably, despite all these pressures and the changes we’ve made to Universal Credit processes, we are able to pay more people in full than in normal times.”

Expert view

Universal
Credit expert Bill Irvine at UC Advice & Advocacy says some tenants
found they got nothing or very little in their first payment due to the timing,
because the benefit is offset against income.

Despite the fact that future payments are
likely to rise as people’s earnings have dropped, he adds many landlords are
complaining that while some tenants had received the payment they’re telling
landlords they can’t afford to pay rent because they don’t have the money.

“People didn’t realise the housing part was
part of the award,” Irvine tells LandlordZONE. “Some landlords were counting on
that money as income, however, there’s no provision to claim the Universal
Credit themselves because the capital value of their property prevents them
from making a claim.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Government claims success for Universal Credit during crisis, but leading expert disagrees | LandlordZONE.

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Government ‘removes uncertainty’ for commercial tenants by postponing next business rates review

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The planned 2021 Rates Revaluation, which had been brought forward, is now to be delayed until 2022, Secretary of State Robert Jenrick has announced today.

Commercial landlords will hopefully have happier tenants today after the government revealed that its contentious 2021 Rates Revaluation process is to be postponed.

This will give thousands of high street business owners a much-needed boost by removing the likelihood of business rates increases threatened by the review, which had been brought forward from 2022.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) regularly reassesses and updates the rateable values of all business properties.

This is called a revaluation and, the VOA claims, is completed to keep the system fair by redistributing the total amount payable in business rates as property values fluctuate.

“We have listened to businesses and their concerns about the timing of the 2021 business rates revaluation and have acted to end that uncertainty by postponing the change,” says MHCLG Secretary of State Robert Jenrick.

“Now is the time for us to continue to focus on supporting businesses affected by the pandemic, including through our unprecedented package of almost £10 billion in business rates relief.”

Unfair to many

Mike Flecknoe of Cushman & Wakefield, comments: “If the revaluation [had] proceeded, rates liability based on pre-COVID valuations would have seemed unfair to many. 

“However, there will be other ratepayers whose future 2021/22 rates liability will seem excessive being based on valuations dating from April 2015.

“It remains to be seen whether the future revaluation will now be effective from April 2022 as originally planned. 

“Key will be the valuation date – April 2020 or 2021 – which will determine new rateable values and liability. “It is extremely hard to see how the VOA can accurately value all non-domestic properties as at April 2020 given our current circumstances. It would be better to have a valuation date of April 2021 and move to a 12 month period between valuation date and revaluation.”

Read the full announcement.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Government ‘removes uncertainty’ for commercial tenants by postponing next business rates review | LandlordZONE.

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Covid-19 and deposits – what you need to know

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Alison MacDougall, Director of Dispute Operations at Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) on what you need to know about tenancy deposits and Covid-19. The Covid-19 pandemic and associated social distancing and lockdown measures have brought many activities to a standstill in the private rented sector (PRS).  As a result, many landlords have struggled to carry out normal […]

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LATEST: More Airbnb landlords are switching to traditional renting, report agents

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The troubled short-lets platform is facing several exponential threats as the Coronavirus lockdown decimates the travel sector and forces its landlords to look for new sources of rental income.

Airbnb is to cut 25% of its workforce and has scaled back its investment activity as the Californian based company (pictured) struggles to cope with the financial whirlwind whipping through the travel business.

The £30 billion house sharing platform, as it likes to be known, faces a clutch of potentially terminal problems.

National and international travel has ground to a halt and, because it doesn’t own any of the properties advertised on its site, it can do little to diversify during the Coronavirus crisis.

It also faces a third and potentially much more serious problem. Short-term lets landlords who were, until the lockdown, leaving it in significant numbers and turning to longer-term lets as many saw the COVID writing on the wall.

And although many UK landlords left it too late to find tenants, as soon as lockdown eases, most likely next week, landlords will continue to bleed from its listings into the arms of traditional letting agents, some commentators predict.

Longer lettings

Dominic Agace, boss of estate agency Winkworth, says that many of the firm’s 60 branches across the capital, part of a nationwide network of 100 offices, have reported an increase in landlords looking for longer lettings for properties, which had once been occupied by tourists and corporate tenants.  

“These attractive flats and houses in good locations would have been filled with AirBnB and other short stay tenants,” he says

“They are now standing empty after the ban on international travel and tourism.  We have an excellent track record in lettings across London and are seeing landlords, some of whom were customers before the short-lets boom, coming to us for expert advice to find long-term tenants.”

Savills’ Head of UK Lettings Jane Cronwright-Brown, adds: “We’re going to see a lot of landlords and property owners swapping sides who may have not considered the traditional lettings market until now”.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: More Airbnb landlords are switching to traditional renting, report agents | LandlordZONE.

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Rental market will be first and fastest to recover after lockdown, says upbeat Savills

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Company’s lettings boss says her teams are already seeing a significant influx of tenant demand as many people prepare to move home ahead of an expected lockdown loosening announcement this weekend.

Upmarket estate agency Savills has claimed that the private rental market will be the first and fastest to recover after the lockdown is relaxed and people are allowed to move home once more.

The prediction is made by the company’s Head of UK Lettings Jane Cronwright-Brown (pictured), who claims that there is significant levels of pent-up demand within the frozen lettings market.

“By the very nature of the business, and because we can move someone in within three to five days if all the paperwork is lined up quickly enough, the rental market will pick up fastest,” she says.

“As soon as the lock down is lifted and non-essential moves are allowed, then a lot of the deals we have already agreed will be brought forward.”

Cronwright-Brown says her teams have also seen a large influx of applicants wanting to view properties, and consequently the number of virtual viewings being completed has risen significantly in recent weeks.

“But obviously they will need to see the properties in the flesh before moving in,” she adds.

Lucian Cook, the agency’s Head of UK Residential Research, says any the recovery will follow a significant reduction in rental stock and applicant numbers since Coronavirus hit the UK in mid-March.

For example, the number of tenants applying for rental property with Savills is currently 60% down on last year’s levels, although over the past two weeks market activity has picked up again as many people anticipate the easing of Coronavirus lockdown rules.

An announcement on this is expected by Boris Johnson on Sunday evening.

Read more about lettings during the lockdown.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Rental market will be first and fastest to recover after lockdown, says upbeat Savills | LandlordZONE.

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Call of the Week-New tenancies

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This week our advice team were able to offer our help to one of our members with a question they had about new tenancies during the pandemic. The landlord wanted to know if he was prohibited from starting a new tenancy at this time, during the lockdown. The guidance on this topic can be a […]

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Today in politics: Furlough latest, student lets, LHA rates and cladding

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We look at all the latest coronavirus news and the results of a survey into work to improve fire safety in residential buildings. Papers say furlough scheme may continue to support renters Newspaper reports today the government could continue to support renters as it winds down its furlough scheme. Matt Dathan, Deputy Political Editor at The […]

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Walking Watch Fire Safety Charges?

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I’ve received several additional service charge demands for a walking watch where there is, as yet, uncertainty as to the fire safety compliance of the blocks in which I have flats. These are already running into the hundreds of pounds per apartment.

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New Scottish Landlord Covid-19 Loan Scheme

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The Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) has welcomed a new £5 million fund set up by the Scottish government offering interest-free loans to landlords whose tenants are having difficulty paying rent during the coronavirus crisis.

The Private Rent Sector Landlord COVID-19 Loan Scheme will offer landlords up to 100% of lost rental income for a single property.

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