Lobby your MP about evictions ban, urges new campaign

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A joint campaign by the National Residential Landlords Association and Landlord Action is today urging readers to lobby their local MP and impress on them the huge problems created by the government recently extended evictions ban.

This includes asking them for a commitment to help the approximately 6,000 landlords stuck in the court system waiting for the eviction ban to lift on 23^rd August and unable to anything about tenants who have rent arrears dating from before lockdown or those behaving anti-socially.

Landlords are also being invited to attend a free webinar hosted by the two organisations to discuss the unfolding disaster for the sector, to be held on Wednesday 1^st July at midday.

Anyone wishing to attend can do so online and also email their questions to NRLA Chief Executive Ben Beadle, Landlord Action founder Paul Shamplina and Property Tribes co-founder Vanessa Warwick, who will be co-hosting the event. Details of how to lobby their local MP are available on the NRLA website. Questions need to be sent to policy@nrla.org.uk by 9am on the 1st July.

Sustain tenancies

“In most cases landlords and tenants are working hard to sustain tenancies wherever possible,” say Beadle and Shamplina in a joint statement.

“It is vital, however, that as courts begin to hear repossession cases again, that they prioritise the most urgent.

“This includes cases of anti-social behaviour, those where rent arrears were building pre-COVID and cases which were started, but then paused, prior to lockdown.

“To support this landlords have a vital role to play in telling their MPs about the impact the repossessions ban is having as well as highlighting the ways in which they are supporting their tenants through the current crisis.”

Landlord pain: David Healy

Healy is owed over £10,000 in arrears and his tenant has not paid any rent since November 2019. Mr Healy’s court hearing, which was due to take place on 5 May, has been adjourned and he does not yet know when this will be rescheduled for.
 

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Stop relying on landlords’ goodwill and protect tenants’ rights, leading campaigner tells government

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The pandemic has exposed an over-reliance on private landlords’ goodwill to meet the country’s housing needs, says Generation Rent’s new director Baroness Alicia Kennedy, who also says her organisation will be working harder to persuade more local authorities to introduce tenants’ charters.

“We are working with local councils to adopt a tenants’ charter to improve awareness of rights and underpin effective enforcement,” she says.

Several councils have already adopted these including Tower Hamlets in London, but their use is far from widespread.

Kennedy says tenants in overcrowded homes are at an increased risk of contracting coronavirus, while more than half of landlords are failing to offer their struggling tenants flexibility on rent.

“As we move from crisis management to recovery, the Government should act to rebalance our housing system, tackle the causes of unaffordability and ensure private renters are properly protected for the long term,” she says.

‘Suspend evictions’

Generation Rent is calling for a suspension of evictions for rent arrears built up due to coronavirus, as well as measures to prevent those arrears in the first place, such as lifting the benefit cap, expanding eligibility for housing allowance, and an increase in the level to cover average local rents.

“To make the sector work for growing numbers who are stuck in it, the Government needs to act quickly on its pledge to end no-fault evictions and introduce the Renters’ Reform Bill to parliament in the autumn,” she says.

“It’s the opportunity we need to give private tenants security in their homes, stability in their lives and greater power in their relationship with their landlords.”

Kennedy adds that while most landlords treat their tenants well, many are slow to carry out repairs or, even worse, let tenants live in unsafe accommodation.

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Landlords received just 18.2% of commercial rent due on 24th June

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Commercial landlords are even worse off this quarter as swathes of retail chains across the UK are either withholding payment or only paying part of their rent.

New figures from Re-Leased show that landlords collected just 18.2% of commercial rents on 24th June – the most recent quarter rent date – compared with the 25.3% on March quarter rent day.

Its analysis of more than 10,000 commercial properties revealed that retail properties were the worst performing group, collecting just 13.8% of rent owed compared to 19.8% in the previous quarter.

Big high street chains including William Hill, JD Sports, Primark, Boots and Stonegate Pubs are all withholding their quarterly rental payments. Betting chain William Hill has written to landlords saying it won’t pay rent in June and is “unable to confirm when payments will recommence”.

Landlords have been trying to reach agreements with tenants after the Government extended a ban on statutory demands or evictions until the end of September.

Tom Wallace, Re-Leased’s CEO, says these figures illustrate the pressure both landlords and tenants are under.

He says: “Across all sectors, we have already seen landlords offering rent holidays, deferrals, and reductions where possible which is encouraging, but transparency is key. It’s crucial to remember that like tenants, landlords will be experiencing significant cash flow problems and have their own financial obligations to meet.”

Re-Leased’s analysis for the March quarter revealed that 67% of commercial rent had been paid 60 days after the deadline compared with 84% for the December 2019 quarter. Wallace believes rent collection will steadily increase over the coming weeks, but that it’s unlikely to reach the level seen in March.

Office assets have been the most resilient in the sector, collecting 22.8% of rent due. However, compared to March quarter when 31.2% was collected, it has seen the greatest decline with rent collection down 8.4%.

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Quarter Days

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With high street administrations and missed rent payments becoming commonplace, commercial property quarterly rent payment days are currently being highlighted in the media, with the last one, June 24^th just having passed.

Understandably, these deadlines are causing landlords and tenants more than a few sleepless. Landlords want to maintain their cash flow as they either need to meet their borrowing obligations or they rely on rents for income. They also want to protect their investments and the last thing they want is a vacant property.

Tenants on the other hand have businesses to run and especially in retail, with high streets already suffering from an average drop in profits of around 30%, have their own challenges throughout the shut down, trying to keep their business afloat sometimes with no income coming in at all.

In England there is a long tradition that a standard commercial lease has rents paid quarterly in advance. The practice stems, like much property law, from medieval times. The Kings in those days would have their tax collectors tour around the country collecting taxes on the Christian holy days, so commercial rents took on the same tradition.

The practice is ingrained in the industry but increasingly business tenants are calling for change. They would like to move to a more cash-flow friendly system of paying monthly in advance, much the same as the practice that’s become the norm in residential tenancies.

Some of the big operators have already capitulated and moved to monthly payments for their commercial tenants, including The Crown Estate, but other landlords are resisting the move citing increased administration costs and arguing that their lenders (pension funds and insurance companies) will not switch as its a major condition of their loans.

So, what exactly is the history of the quarter days and when do they occur?

• 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, 1 October.

From medieval times in England there have been in the calendar four Quarter Days:

• Lady Day
• Midsummer
• Michaelmas
• Christmas

Traditionally these have been days when accounts are settled, and typically with commercial properties these are the Rent Days.

The Quarter Days are the days that mark the beginning of each quarter of the year. In England, Wales and Ireland the quarter days are actually four religious festivals:

• Lady Day – The Feast of the Annunciation, March 25
• Midsummer Day – The Feast of St. John the Baptist, June 24
• Michaelmas – The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, September 29
• Christmas Day – The Feast of the Nativity, December 25

In Scotland, the traditional quarter days are referred to as  term days:

• Candlemas – The feast of the Purification, February 2
• Whitsunday – Pentecost, which is always on May 15
• Lammas – Long Mass, or the Feast of First Fruits, August 1
• Martinmas – The Feast of St. Martin, November 11

However, recent legislation (Term & Quarter Days (Scotland) Act 1990 c.22) has specified the new Scottish quarter days as:

• Candlemas – 28 February
• Whitsun – 28 May
• Lammas – 28 August
• Martinmas – 28 November

These new quarter days will apply to more recent leases unless otherwise stated.

The modern quarter days now being adopted in England in some recent leases:

• 1 January
• 1 April
• 1 July
• 1 October

The Legal Tradition of Quarter Days:

The Quarter Days were traditionally days when debts were settled and when magistrates would visit outlying districts to administer their justice.

There is a strong principle of English justice tied up in this – “debts and unresolved conflicts must not be allowed to linger on” past the quarter sessions.

It was deemed that “However complex the case, however difficult to settle the debt, a reckoning has to be made and publicly recorded; for it is one of the oldest legal principles of this country that justice delayed is injustice”. On the Way to the Postmodern – see below.

When the Barons had the unjust King John sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215 one of the main principles embodied into it was the promise: “To none will we sell, or deny, or delay right or justice“.

Timeliness applies to this day where property rents are concerned: landlords and owners expect the rent to be paid on time.

Mnemonic – Quarter days 

Sir, Assuming you can remember when Christmas occurs, a useful mnemonic to place quarter days is to count the letters of the relevant months. Thus, in March, there being five letters, you can know that the quarter day is the 25th. June has four letters and the quarter day is the 24th, and September, having nine letters, has its quarter day on the 29th.(Letter to the Times G. C. M. YOUNG Fairford, Glos  – Times on-line 15 April 2006)

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‘We’re not out of the woods yet’ letting agents warn

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A survey of letting agencies has revealed that many believe that the private rental market will take a while to adjust to the ‘new normal’ as agents, tenants and landlords get used to renting homes during the ongoing pandemic.

And 40% of those canvassed told the Property Redress Scheme that they are yet to open their branches, not because they are worried about safety, but due to concerns over the viability of their businesses and risks of brining staff out of the furlough scheme too early.

“Whilst we have seen some encouraging signs of a market recovery, agents clearly feel we are far from out of the woods yet,” says Sean Hooker, Head of Redress at the PRS.

Uncertainty

“I’m also certain that the extension of the evictions ban and the uncertainty of the student market is also weighing heavily on letting agents’ minds.”

The survey also reveals that the lettings industry is set to change significantly following the Covid housing market lockdown.

The 230 letting agents revealed to the survey that 24% are to change their opening hours, 65% are to continue to let their employees work from home and that 44% are to relax their dress code.

The survey also found that virtual viewings are set to be a significant feature of the rental process. While only 20% of agents offered them prior to Covid, 70% of firms say they will now offer a mixture of face-to-face viewings and virtual ones.

Read the PRS survey in full.

 

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