Generation Rent appeals to mortgage lenders not to evict tenants

Generation Rent appeals to mortgage lenders not to evict tenants

9:40 AM, 30th August 2023, About 9 months ago 30

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In a bid to safeguard tenants facing potential homelessness when a landlord falls into BTL mortgage arrears, one tenants’ rights group is urging mortgage lenders to uphold their ‘moral obligation’ not to evict tenants.

The call comes from Generation Rent and its chief executive, Ben Twomey, has written an open letter to the chief executives of four major mortgage providers.

In it, he urges them not to evict renters from properties owned by landlords who are struggling with defaulted mortgages.

The appeal comes as a response to the growing number of repossessions of landlords by lenders – a trend that looks set to grow in the coming months.

‘Severe consequences for the tenant’

With no wiggle room for landlords, Mr Twomey writes: “Eviction resulting from the actions of someone else is a very disruptive act with often severe consequences for the tenant that should be avoided wherever possible.

“It therefore seems likely that landlords behind on mortgage payments are at a higher risk of repossession and there is nothing their tenants can do about it.”

He adds: “I would like to know what your institution is doing to prevent tenants from losing their homes if their landlord is repossessed, and if you have a policy of acting as or appointing a receiver of rent to allow tenants to stay in their homes and carry on with their lives.”

Treasury agreement does not cover the buy to let market

Unlike the support extended to residential mortgage holders, the recent agreement established between the Treasury and lending institutions does not cover the buy to let market.

This gap leaves landlords with a BTL mortgage – and most of those are interest-only mortgages – vulnerable to arrears.

According to a recent report from UK Finance, the second quarter of this year saw the repossession of 440 buy to let properties.

And another 2,000 landlords fell more than 10% behind on their mortgage payments.

The figures underline the mounting pressure that landlords are under due to increasing interest rates.

‘Evict the tenant of homes they repossess from landlords’

Mr Twomey says: “We know that lenders have a right to evict the tenant of homes they repossess from landlords, using Section 21 or Section 8 Ground 2 of the Housing Act.

“A no-fault eviction results in stress for the tenant, particularly when rents have been rising as they have been.

“Finding a new, affordable place to live can drag tenants away from their workplaces, families and schools.”

2 million BTL mortgages currently active in the UK

There are around 2 million BTL mortgages currently active in the UK, according to UK Finance, but landlords are finding themselves in a tight financial position.

The Bank of England has estimated that by the end of 2025, up to 40% of these mortgages could potentially have payments that are 80% higher than the rental income received.

Mr Twomey’s open letter goes beyond an appeal for tenant protection and extends an invitation to mortgage providers to engage in discussions with Generation Rent.

The aim of these discussions would be to formulate effective measures to help shield renters from the loss of their homes – and boost their security in the current housing market turmoil.


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Comments

Churchills Tax Advisers

14:39 PM, 31st August 2023, About 9 months ago

Reply to the comment left by The Forever Tenant at 31/08/2023 - 12:47
It would be a risky strategy for the lender.

If I was the borrower I would be asking for:

1. compensation for any interest and charges incurred during the tenancy,
2. compensation for damage/wear and tear to the property during the tenancy, and
3. compensation for any other reduction in market value during the period they decided to rent it to the tenants.

The lender should be actively marketing it for sale, in order to pay down the mortgage facility and cap the borrower's costs.

The Forever Tenant

18:15 PM, 31st August 2023, About 9 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Churchills Tax Advisers at 31/08/2023 - 14:39
It was a bit of a unique situation because at the time it was proving difficult to find other buyers.

If tenants for evicted and the houses left empty, those houses had a reasonably good chance of falling into disrepair or vandalised. By keeping someone in there, the banks found that it cost them less as the places would be in a relatively good condition when sold.

Churchills Tax Advisers

18:26 PM, 31st August 2023, About 9 months ago

Reply to the comment left by The Forever Tenant at 31/08/2023 - 18:15
It would be up to the lenders to ensure that they had insured against these risks (premium cost added to the borrower's debt of course!). It should be marketed, rather than rented, otherwise the borrower could contend that he has been unfairly prejudiced if the property drops in value between default and eventual sale.

Chris @ Possession Friend

7:44 AM, 2nd September 2023, About 9 months ago

When will GR ( grrrrr ) realise that their campaigning against the Tenants housing providers is driving less properties available and increased costs.
Tenants need to take the shovel off them.

BTL Property Owner

9:03 AM, 2nd September 2023, About 9 months ago

Question for Ben. Have you received any replies from the chief executives of the lenders? If so, would you like to share them with us? After all, you did write an open letter.

Jessie Jones

9:45 AM, 2nd September 2023, About 9 months ago

The eviction process takes so long that it has to be started months before vacant possession is actually required.
It's not the fault of the Building Society, or the landlord that tenants are evicted from repossessed properties. It is the fault of the long drawn out legal process that protects tenants.
It would be all very well allowing tenants to remain up until the point of sale, but all too often tenants don't leave on agreed dates.

Carchester

9:53 AM, 2nd September 2023, About 9 months ago

He seems to be a nice chap for the rent defaulters and Marxist class.

steven property118

12:07 PM, 2nd September 2023, About 9 months ago

Oh, they successfully pressured landlords to meet their demands, but now they're expecting lenders to yield as well. It appears a tough lesson may be in store for them. The truth is, they view landlords as vulnerable targets, when in fact, the root cause of this significant housing crisis lies in the lack of construction and the sale of social housing units, which has led to the bursting of this bubble we're witnessing.

PAUL BARTLETT

23:43 PM, 2nd September 2023, About 9 months ago

Right to Buy wasn't matched with Duty to Build so of course there is no Social Housing stock, just huge waiting lists.
Labour had ample opportunity to correct this Tory mistake but chose not to. If they get in next time will they deal with the root cause or the aggrevating factor of uncontrolled migration?
Supply and Demand are normal market factors and no politician can change that..

Beaver

14:08 PM, 4th September 2023, About 8 months ago

Reply to the comment left by The Forever Tenant at 31/08/2023 - 12:47
The US market is different. In the US the financial crisis was caused because the lenders lent to people who had no jobs, assets or other income and in the US the financial institutions do not go after the owner of the property if the owner defaults. So in the US it's in the interests of the lender to let the tenant stay in the property.

Here all the risk is taken by the landlord. And as others on this thread have said, the effect of left-wing organisations like Shelter and Generation Rent, and the effect of extreme left-wing parties like the SNP has been to drive landlords out of the PRS thereby decreasing choice for tenants and driving up rents.

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