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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EXCLUSIVE: Evictions to restart as courts get ready to open for possession hearings on June 29th

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Solicitors are told to expect that both suspended and new hearings are to restart but that they will be held online or on the telephone until it is safe to hold them in person.

Word has reached Landlordzone that one of the UK’s busiest civil and family courts has revealed to its regular users that it is preparing to begin listing possession hearings once again on Monday 29^th June, indicating strongly that is the date when most other courts around the UK are likely to also begin hearing cases once again.

This would suggest that the government is now unlikely to extend its legislative evictions ban past the end of June after a three month hiatus, if the courts system is now getting ready to hear both existing and new possession cases once more.

The courts preparing for hearings from the end of June is good news for landlords who have had claims stuck in the court system since mid March relating to issues pre virus.

It was a very sensible step by the government to suspend evictions for public health reasons for a reasonable period of time but now with it being deemed safe to move and the property market back in full swing it seems right not to carry on with the blanket stay on all possession claims.

Video calls

“There will be more work required for each hearing including communicating before the hearing and the logistics of getting everyone on the telephone or video call with a narrow window of time based on the volume of hearings needed to take place. We see this as a challenge but one we are ready for having worked fully remotely for the last nine weeks,” says Tim Frome, Legal Director of Landlord Action

But the court involved is also worried that many large portfolio landlords are not yet ready to restart possession claims as many of their staff may have been furloughed, and many others are still deciding whether it’s worth evicting tenants who have fallen behind with their rental payments.

To help keep solicitors, court staff, tenants and landlords safe, it is understood that block possession hearings will initially be heard via telephone or one of the virtual meetings platforms, which itself will be a first for the UK court system, in half hour intervals.

On top of accelerated hearings that require only sight of paperwork, judges are expected to complete ten hearings a day in a bid to deal with the backlog of hearings ‘stayed’ during the ban, plus an expected rush of new possession hearings.

This will present a logistical hill to climb for the courts, as they will have to chase down participants for each hearing, not an easy task when dealing with people who are not that familiar with virtual technology.

Consequently, judges have been urged to ensure that vulnerable tenants are not prejudiced by the new process.

Read more: How to handle the evictions process.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – EXCLUSIVE: Evictions to restart as courts get ready to open for possession hearings on June 29th | LandlordZONE.

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How to invest in property post Covid-19

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In this video I share 5 criteria for making successful property investments in a post Covid-19 property market recession.

Essential viewing if you are serious about UK property investment and if you want to learn how to invest in property.

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Edinburgh council to buy and rent empty Airbnb properties off desperate landlords

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Hundreds of short-let properties normally crammed with tourists at this time of year are standing empty, but councillors have launched a scheme to return them to their ‘proper use as a home’.

Edinburgh
landlords and holiday let owners left with empty homes due to coronavirus are
being encouraged to lease or sell them to the council.

Landlords can either get guaranteed rent for
up to five years, or are now being encouraged to sell them via the Link Group,
which is investing up to £30 million in buying about 200 empty homes, including
those used as short-term lets. Link hopes it can eventually lease up to 1,850 properties
back to the council.

Edinburgh Council has a difficult relationship with the short-term lets sector and is cracking down on Airbnb rentals; Edinburgh Old Town has the highest incidence in the UK, with 29 active listings for every 100 properties, according to data gathering firm Inside Airbnb.

Council leader Adam McVey says:“This scheme offers a solution for private landlords who are unable to receive rental income during the pandemic, but more importantly for the city it increases the number of homes available to people experiencing homelessness.

Proper use

“We’d love to see many of the properties that
had been used as short term lets returning to their proper use as homes.”

Link Group commercial director, Colin Culross, adds:“The scheme is a welcome solution for Edinburgh landlords with buy-to-let mortgages currently seeking financial support or mortgage payment holidays due to a lack of rental income. More than 1,000 landlords are already receiving guaranteed rent through private sector leasing, which has been operating successfully for over a decade.”
 
Meanwhile, Airbnb landlords in the city who have seen business slump are doing their bit by offering vacant properties to homeless families affected by the crisis.

Find out more about holiday home management.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Edinburgh council to buy and rent empty Airbnb properties off desperate landlords | LandlordZONE.

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Councils are persuading even experienced landlords to self-incriminate

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You may well receive a letter from the council. It will look relatively innocuous and particularly bureaucratic.

There is no standard format for these letters, and one could be forgiven for concluding that they deliberately make them confusing so that you

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