Mar

Housing activists launch campaign to prevent rent clawback via ‘payment plans’ once Coronavirus crisis is over

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Acorn says it has 38,200 signatures to support its campaign to prevent rent rises once the pandemic has subsided.

Community and
tenants’ union Acorn wants the Government to stop
landlords charging higher rents after the Coronavirus crisis in order to recoup
lost income.

It says thousands of renters will be out of
pocket for weeks or even months as they try to pay back arrears through payment
plans once the crisis has abated.

Instead, the three-month payment holiday for
buy-to-let mortgage holders should go together with a rent suspension with no
expectation for that rent to be repaid.

It adds that many renters will simply have to
keep working to avoid spiralling rent arrears debt, exposing themselves and
others to unnecessary risk, while landlords will have the asset of a house when
they pay off their mortgage.

Acorn’s campaign on change.org to protect
renters has already got more than 38,200 signatures of its 50,000 target.

Aidan Cassidy, Bristol organiser for Acorn,
says a crisis could occur once the temporary eviction ban lifts, when landlords
seek to collect unpaid rent for the pandemic period – but many renters will
have lost their incomes in part or entirely.

“There needs to be no expectation of rent to
be paid at the end. What we need is a rent freeze” says Cassidy. “Otherwise we’ll find ourselves in a debt
crisis.”

John Stewart, policy manager for the
Residential Landlords Association, says it agrees with the Shadow Chancellor
John McDonnell, who told the House of Commons that the Government should
‘ensure that rents are paid, not merely that payments are suspended for this
period.’

“Tenants affected should look at the
comprehensive package of measures the Chancellor has announced to support the
incomes of those in employment and those claiming benefits,” he tells
LandlordZONE.

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