Landlords told eviction pre-action protocols will require tenants’ mental health to be checked

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Government announcement is expected imminently on new rules to be followed before landlords start possession proceedings against tenants.

A leading evictions expert says landlords should expect the soon-to-be announced pre-action protocols for the privately rented sector to include requirements for them to consider a tenant’s mental health before applying for a possession hearing.

Pre-action protocols are already part of the eviction process within the social housing sector and require landlords to show they have considered a range of issues before applying to start possession proceedings.

“With the possibility of the courts reopening at the end of June for repossession hearings it is vitally important private landlords take into consideration all circumstances their tenants find themselves in,” says Tim Frome, Head of Legal at Landlord Action.

“Landlords should think about whether their tenant could be considered a vulnerable person under the Equality Act 2010.

“The social housing repossession pre action protocol already makes this a requirement on landlords so it is likely that this will be replicated in the private housing version which is going to be issued shortly.”

This will require landlords to consider not only if a tenant facing eviction is vulnerable, but in particular whether the tenant has the necessary mental capacity to defend a possession claim and, where appropriate, apply to appoint a litigation friend under Part 21 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

“With it being Mental Health Awareness Week I would urge all landlords to think about the last time they checked in with their tenants to make sure they are ok,” says Frome.

“A simple telephone call or text message can make a big difference to a person.”

Rental deposits alternative Ome, which is part of the Fraser Hamilton family of companies, last week launched a Rental Wellbeing Helpline to aid tenants who have found themselves suffering mentally, physically or financially with no obvious path to turn to for help. It is available within the free Ome app on both Android and Apple.

Read more about pre-action protocols.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlords told eviction pre-action protocols will require tenants’ mental health to be checked | LandlordZONE.

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‘If a tenant is facing hardship, increasing their burden with rent arrears will not help them or their landlord’

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Unusually candid lettings agent cuts through the arguments over rent waivers, arrears and evictions with a common sense approach to helping both his tenants and landlords. Would you be won over?

Meet the lettings agent who has adopted an unusual business strategy to
get his tenants and landlords through the crisis.

Boris Drappier, founder of online agency Rent Happily in Bristol, believes tenants don’t need to be burdened with rent arrears while landlords can still get their rent in the long run if they apply for a payment holiday.

One-third
of Rent Happily’s tenants
have seen their income dwindle and are struggling to pay rent, so Drappier has
been working with his landlords to cook up a solution, acting as a go-between
tenants, landlords and mortgage lenders.

Rent relief

Consequently,
some of his landlords have granted a blanket three-month rent relief, while
others have gone for a monthly renewable agreement.

He
adds that while they have the right to claim their rent arrears, given the
circumstances, they are unlikely to get them back, and could face even greater
costs finding new tenants in an insecure rental market.

“If the tenant is facing
hardship, increasing their burden with rent arrears is going to help neither
the tenant nor the landlord. Instead of passing the rent arrears onto a single
tenant, it should be passed onto the tenancies until the term of the mortgage
is over,” he says.

Drappier
explains that after one landlord won a three-month break on their £700 pcm mortgage
payments, he temporarily lowered the rent from £950 to £250 a month – the
rental income he would normally receive on top of the mortgage payment, so he didn’t
lose out.

He tells LandlordZONE: “It might be unusual, but our landlords have done this after careful consideration. They have a good relationship with their tenants and have been taking the long-term view as they want to keep them. And while some have had to give proof of their tenants’ financial situation, some haven’t – it depends on the lender.”

Read more about rent arrears.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ‘If a tenant is facing hardship, increasing their burden with rent arrears will not help them or their landlord’ | LandlordZONE.

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Strict liability for Unlicensed HMOs? – Legal Cases Webinar

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In our Landlord Law Legal Cases series, we discuss one important landlord and tenant legal decision in the Courts with one of the barristers in the case. We will be running the next webinar on Tuesday 26 May at 10.30 am and it is a case on HMO licensing and strict liability.

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Scottish MSPs reject campaigners key proposals for rental sector including rent payments freeze

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Despite attempts to persuade the committee voting through amendments to Scotland’s latest emergency Coronavirus legislation to accept the need for the radical proposals, they have now been left out of the latest draft.

Scottish MSPs have rejected four proposals added recently to the country’s draft emergency Coronavirus legislation as amendments.

This included a two-year rent freeze, a hardship fund for tenants and a tenant rent support facility as well as voting down plans to allow judges to disregard rent arrears as grounds for eviction during the pandemic.

The proposals were included within 53 amendments tabled by several parties at a crucial committee meeting, including the Green Party, to vote on amendments to Scotland’s second emergency coronavirus bill, which is currently making its way through parliament.

Pandemic

“The Bill makes changes that will help public services continue to operate during the coronavirus pandemic,” the bill’s supporting guidance says.

“It also includes changes to support businesses and individuals. These reflect changes to the way people can live and work during the emergency situation.”

Referring to the rent freeze, committee member and MSP Graham Simpson said he opposed the measure because: “Many landlords have reduced their rents to help tenants already during the crisis, and I know landlords in Edinburgh who have reduced their rents by 30% for a minimum of three months and that’s what should happen – tenants telling landlords when they are facing difficulties, and landlords responding in a flexible manner.”

But although MSPs rejected these proposals, a key one did make it through; to enable students to exit their existing rental contracts by giving seven days’ notice during the Coronavirus crisis.A further amendment also exempts landlords from paying council tax on properties that have been vacated by tenants, during the crisis.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Scottish MSPs reject campaigners key proposals for rental sector including rent payments freeze | LandlordZONE.

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Say no to viewings during the crisis if uneasy about safety, Citizens’ Advice tells tenants

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Organisation urges renters to refuse requests for viewings from a landlord or agent even if access terms are part of their tenancy contract.

Tenants shouldn’t feel pressurised to allow viewings during
the crisis, Citizen’s Advice has warned, and encouraged tenants to refuse them
if they feel at risk.

Despite new Government guidelines on starting
up the housing market again using social distancing, the charity thinks private
rental tenants might feel uncomfortable about how agents can safely allow
viewings, or get access to take photos and videos.

Citizens Advice
housing expert Amy Hughes says it’s paramount that tenants are safe – and
feel safe.

“Tenants should not be pressured to allow viewings,”
she says. “The Government guidelines stress that social distancing must be
adhered to and that there should be no viewings at all in properties where
tenants are shielding, or self-isolating because they have symptoms of
coronavirus.”

It’s advising renters that if they don’t want their landlord or letting agent to organise viewings, they can refuse, and that neither can enter without permission.

Being reasonable?

Citizens’ Advice adds that allowing access might be part of the contract, and breaching it could allow a landlord to serve an injunction or make a claim for possession, but explains: “To succeed, the landlord needs to prove they are being reasonable, and a court may not consider it reasonable if the tenant is taking steps to protect themselves against a potential health risk.”

Hughes says that properties should only be
put on the rental market if the tenant has said they want to move.

She adds: “However, existing measures to protect people who are having difficulty paying their rent because of the pandemic are only temporary. Possession proceedings to allow landlords to evict tenants are only paused until 25th June.”

Read more about property viewings.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Say no to viewings during the crisis if uneasy about safety, Citizens’ Advice tells tenants | LandlordZONE.

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Company guaranteed rent set-up?

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I have been hoping to invest in property for a few years, but as friends of mine have struggled with bad tenants, I have been hesitant.

I have wondered whether investing in property, but using an estate agent that can guarantee my rental income would be worthwhile?

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‘Locked down, but not locked out’

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My last blog for LandlordZone was on 30^th March, just after the country went into lockdown. Here we are, now entering week eight.

Much like everybody else, I was in shock for the first ten days thinking “is this really happening, am I going to be stuck at home with the wife and kids?” But all jokes aside, the enormity of the situation and how I would do my pretty varied job, from the confines of my home, was daunting. 

I’m fortunate enough to have a ‘Man Cave’, which I turned into an office, and after some organising and creating a clear structure to my day, I started to adapt to the new ‘norm’.

So,
let’s have a look at what’s been going on and what it might mean for us
landlords.

From the moment lockdown started, I received a constant stream of phone calls and emails from landlords and agents asking my advice.  The biggest challenge in such a fast-moving situation was that new information and guidelines were being issued every day, so no sooner had I responded or sent something out, the advice needed updating! But communication and engagement with the public in a time of such uncertainty is paramount. 

I made it my mission to read every piece of information released that could impact the private rented sector and made myself available to participate in anything that would help answer the most common landlord, agent and tenant questions. So far, I think I have taken part in nearly 20 webinars, podcasts, radio interviews and Facebook live posts.

The Government stepped in to support people with furlough support schemes, Government-backed loans to businesses, business rates relief, direct business grants, VAT deferral, self-employed grants, and delayed tax payments. But the scale of the crisis was, and is, unprecedented, evidenced by the fact that more than 1.8 million people have applied for Universal Credit during Lockdown, compared to 370,000 for the same period last year.

Talk radio

In April, I did two interviews with Ian Collins from Talk Radio. The first was about the renters’ unions calling on the Government to suspend rents for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. What they fail to recognise is there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach.

The vast majority of private landlords (85-90%) own one or two properties, many with mortgages, and they too are facing the same challenges of being furloughed, unemployment or reduced work.

The second interview was about commercial landlords having dialogue with the government about the Furlough Space Grant Scheme.  This would see commercial landlords receive part payment of rent bills for “furloughed” shops and restaurants, modelled on a similar plan used in Denmark.

At present, in lockdown all evictions and debt claims against commercial tenants have been suspended. As of 2016 the commercial property market in the UK was worth £883 billion. Can you imagine if this scheme went ahead, how many millions of pounds would be paid to commercial landlords?

I have been contacted daily by both residential and commercial landlords whose tenants have stopped paying the rent, and every individual has a different story of how this has impacted them personally.

Magic solution

The repercussions are so complex and far-reaching. However, there is no magic solution and I have made it very clear that landlords must work with their tenants and try their very best to come to an agreement which work for both parties.  As a landlord you do not want an empty property, especially commercial units. 

I said on the second week of this crisis, and I stand by it, that the commercial property market will be hit a lot harder than the residential market.  The high street was struggling before COVID-19, with shops forced to close due to growth in the online retail market.  

Now, with bars, cafes, restaurants and pubs having to wait until July to re-open, and then at potentially a fraction of their maximum capacity, it is going to be long road to recovery with many casualties along the way.

In
addition, many more companies will be looking to reduce their office space as
they realise that employees have adapted well to the ‘work from home’ model
without impacting productivity, so it provides companies with a quick way to
cut costs.

Residential rental properties will still be in high demand, but I think landlords may be wise to be more flexible with rents if they start to fall.  In my view, it is better to have eight applicants look at your property for £225 a week, than two applicants at £250 a week.   You can then choose the best tenant for you, rather than them choose you.

Student HMOs

In the residential market, one of the biggest landlord groups affected is student landlords with HMOs. I spoke to one agent who manages 1,000 units, he had 30 students refusing to pay the rent on the advice of their university – What?

In addition, the Guaranteed Rent and Rent to Rent market is on its knees, with operators giving keys back to landlords even though they have a commercial agreement with the head landlord and are liable for the rent.

I have one long-standing landlord client, Terry Reeves, who has decided to either sell his properties or let them to local authorities (his story here).  I think this could become increasingly popular with landlords with increased concerns around job stability, void periods and letting fees. 

Councils are crying out for properties, and although landlords have shied away from the social sector since the introduction on Universal Credit, with the LHA rate increasing 13%, direct payments to landlords being made more accessible and councils under pressure to reduce homelessness, I think landlords could be attracted back to this sector.

Seven
weeks on, and we finally had some good news that the property market could
reopen for business. Viewings, valuations, inspections and move ins are all
permissible with careful social distancing measures in place.  People still need to move, and in the last
week alone more Buy to Let mortgage products have been released to help
landlords.

But hold of to your hard hats, it is looking like it is going to be a rough ride. A true indication of the state of our economy will not be seen until the last quarter of this year when and if furlough schemes come to an end.

Odd bods

As
a closing point, I’m now doing a weekly VLOG property news show called The Property Odd Bods, with Russell Quirk,
which comes out at weekends.  We thought
we’d do something different to enlighten, debate, argue and have some fun about
the weekly industry news.  This week I
had a £100 bet with Russell, which I’m confident I will win.  So have a watch.

Keep
on doing good things for your tenants and show that us landlords do care and
are not greedy so and so’s.   We mention
this in on our Landlord Hero of the week section every Friday on LandlordZone.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – ‘Locked down, but not locked out’ | LandlordZONE.

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Welsh Government guidance for landlords to share with tenants during Covid-19

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New guidance has been published by the Welsh Government this week for landlords to pass on to tenants who need advice or support at this time. The guidance includes advice for tenants who need to self-isolate in a shared property, and advice for tenants if they’re struggling to pay rent at this time. Despite the […]

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LandlordZone report court preparing to start possession cases on 29th June

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LandlordZone  reported that a busy civil and family court has told a regular user it is preparing to start listing possession hearings from Monday 29th June and this could indicate the start date for other courts around the UK.

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Mental Health Awareness week 2020-support for landlords and tenants

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Almost a quarter of adults living under lockdown in the UK have felt loneliness, according to a new study by the Mental Health Foundation. This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, an annual awareness week organised by the foundation. The theme this year is Acts of Kindness, and was chosen by the charity in response […]

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