Enforcement agent visits suspended Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday 23rd March 2020, visits by our enforcement agents are temporarily suspended. We will follow ongoing guidance from Government over the next three weeks and review as necessary. Residential evictions As you may be aware, the Government is introducing emergency legislation to prevent landlords from […]

We want to help our tenants in difficulty by giving them initially, a 3-month deferment of their rent. Not a gift or free ride – just no rent to be paid for 3 months, but then (assuming/hoping) things get back to normal, they make up the arrears along with their normal monthly rent payment. My […]

I am a professional Landlord with quite a few properties. I have Buy to Let mortgages on all of them. However, like most landlords there is money over and above the mortgage payments from the rent I receive, to which I live on. The government have to surely rethink their strategy on this. Maybe if […]

To keep it brief, bought a property that consists of 3 flats using Bridging finance. They need refurbishment to be put into rentable condition and then refinance longer term on to a Buy to Let mortgage. Two months in to the refurbishment and four months left to go the builders and now suppliers closing down! […]

The spending limit for contactless card payments will be increased from £30 to £45, with a national roll-out beginning from 1 April 2020, UK Finance has announced. The decision to raise the limit was taken following consultation between the retail sector and the finance and payments industry and follows similar increases in several other European […]

As of the evening of 23rd March, Gas Safe expect to suspend Gas Safety inspections until they have more guidance. “We anticipate that we will need to continue, but will confirm this soon, once we the guidance from Cabinet Office and HSE on what they need from the industry to support the nation. Click Here […]

I would just like to ask other landlords how they are responding to the tenants who say they cannot pay the rent this month due to the Coronavirus crisis? I have had a tenant call me today to tell me that their income has more or less dried up and he’s going to be unable […]

I have started to receive emails from students advising that they have now left the property and went back home to their parents which is fair enough given the universities are shut till September. However, they are unsure why they still have to pay, but I have explained that although we have been offered a […]

My tenant wants me to evict her as I believe she wants a council flat. Having reminded her that the council wouldn’t rehouse her if she had any rent arrears seven months of rent which she owed me quickly appeared! Anyway she’s gutted that evictions (section 21 ) have been suspended for three months. I […]

Guidance from Lord Chief Justice and soon-to-be enacted Coronavirus legislation both mean landlords have a very small window to complete ongoing evictions. The Section 8 evictions court system is continuing but is on the brink of being shut down, Landlord Action has warned. Blackpool County Court was the first to follow the Lord Chief Justice’s […]

SCHEDULE 29 of the Coronavirus Bill outlines government policy for Assured shorthold tenancy evictions. Click here to download the entire Bill. It looks as if the only changes in the new bill are an extension of notice periods under the Housing act 1988 from 2 months to 3 months. The relevant sections of the new […]

“In recent days, the Bank of England and the government have worked closely with the major banks to put in place a range of measures which give enormous scope to the financial system to provide help to both businesses and households during these extraordinary times. The UK’s banks are in a strong position to provide […]

The latest research by Hamilton Fraser’s deposit replacement scheme Ome, has found that the average rental deposit being paid by tenants in England has fallen -10.3% since the ban on tenant fees was introduced in June 2019. Ome looked at the average cost of a rental deposit in the six months prior to the introduction […]

Commercial tenants who cannot pay their rent because of coronavirus will be protected from eviction, the government has announced. Many landlords and tenants are already having conversations and reaching voluntary arrangements about rental payments due shortly but the Government recognises businesses struggling with their cashflow due to coronavirus remain worried about eviction. These measures, included […]

I am concerned that the Government has overlooked Corporate Landlords in its bail out provisions. It has effectively allowed our tenants the discretion to delay paying rents by removing the option of eviction and yet there is very little if any support financially for landlords that are incorporated. As we are deemed to be Investment […]

Anyone know what is a landlords legal position if a tenant asks for a repair eg dripping tap, boiler problem etc during this pandemic? I know that Local Authority repair teams for their stock social housing have been told they cannot go into residential properties. If one can even find a tradesman is there a […]

I own a commercial property and had to forfeit the commercial lease of the tenant due to non payment of rent. The property remained empty for some time partly due to a legal issue with the ex-tenant and then trying to ensure any new tenant was suitable. During the period of the legal issue we […]

The London Renters Union have released a template letter for tenants (see below) requesting a suspension of payments until the Coronavirus situation improves. They appear to be insinuating that landlords are being given help by lenders suspending mortgage payments and that tenants haven’t been offered any corresponding assistance. The LRU state: “It’s good news that […]

I have just purchased a house to let and I don’t have a mortgage on it. I have an agency looking for a tenant for me. I’m thinking about the current situation and is it best to keep it empty and pay the council tax until this Coronavirus is sorted or rush having someone move […]

1. Tenant on PAYE – laid off temporarily or permanently (not because they have the virus) and say they can’t pay the rent indefinitely, can they claim government assistance to pay the rent eg housing benefit? If so is this immediate? If not what can I do? 2. tenant who is self employed and whose […]

If the rental property is not mortgaged then there is no payment holiday, (for up to three months) for a landlord which 3 month’s monies could then be offered on the understanding this payment holiday benefit is to be passed on to the tenant. Are we then saying that tenants get up to 3 months […]