22nd November 2021
What Has The Pandemic Taught Us and How Has The Market Changed?
This is the message from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as Agents go back to work. So, what should you know as a self-managing Landlord, or to make sure you are being protected by your agent? In a new document issued by the Ministry of Housing, agents and landlords are being told to do the following. "Endeavour to avoid ending tenancies where the tenant wants to, and is able, to stay.” My interpretation of this is, when the ‘non-eviction’ rules finish at the end of June, the Courts will still look unfavourably on any eviction process that is due in full, or part, to the impact of the Corona Virus. “Private landlords and letting agents should not conduct viewings in properties where tenants are symptomatic or self-isolating, or where it has been determined that they are clinically extremely vulnerable and shielding.” So, viewings can proceed only in line with social distancing rules and if the tenants are clear of COVID-19. “Visits to a property must be made in accordance with government guidelines on working from other peoples’ homes and social distancing.” If possible, any necessary repairs should be conducted in the period between a property being vacated and a new tenant moving in. If this is not possible, and visits to an occupied property are necessary, it should be done by appointment, with measures in place to ensure physical contact is minimised. That could mean residents staying in another room during the visit. Letting agents may also want to consider obtaining landlord and tenant consent for inventory clerk appointments to occur during vacant periods (before a tenant moves in, or...
NRLA Join the call to repeal the Eviction Ban NRLA (National Residential Landlord Association) is asking any of its members that have been forced into difficult circumstances by the Governments extension to the COVID-19 eviction ban to share their experience with their local MP. The ban makes no sense. Tenants who have experienced difficulties due to the lock down aren’t in the system yet, the only people currently in the court system were delinquent tenants long before COVID-19 kicked in. I have always advocated that a simple blanket ban on evictions is both unnecessary and unfair. Of course COVID_19 affected tenants should be protected, but this ban protects all those tenants who are currently either, deliberately not paying rent or being evicted for other legitimate reasons such as anti-social behaviour. NRLA points out that some Landlords who had significant rent arrears before the Coronavirus lockdown face the possibility of at least five more months without rent if their tenants fail to pay in the knowledge that evictions cannot happen. It’s a crazy situation and one that with even the smallest bit of communication between the government and affected parties would have been avoided. The NRLA are calling for…. a clear statement from the Government reiterating that those who can pay their rent should do so;support for tenants most in need to pay their rents by boosting the Local Housing Allowance, developing interest free hardship loans for tenants;providing compensation to landlords who have existing possession orders from the courts but cannot execute them, and have therefore will have missed five months’ of rent payments as a result of government actions;prioritising possession cases that began before the lockdown but were then paused, those related to...
Having extended the eviction ban for a further month at very short notice the government have issued further guidelines that come in from the 1st September. You will only have to give 4 weeks notice of intention to repossess your property on grounds of anti-social behaviour; with just 2 weeks notice for tenants who have committed acts of domestic violence, and 4 weeks notice for tenants who have built up 6 month rental arrears. Whilst this is a (very) tiny step forward, you will still need a court order to evict, and with courts likely to be almost a year behind due to the current restrictions, you are still in for a long and painful process. Should Landlords Manage Their own properties? With all the current legislation changes, and the Governments determination to protect the tenants from Landlords (I'm not entirely sure what they think Landlords are like) it's a nightmare trying to keep up! You say, or do one thing incorrectly, and you could see yourself in a year plus long ride through the court system. Scaremongering aside, Landlords need to remember that renting your property is a business, and all personal feelings have to be set aside. In a recent survey of Lettings Agents 90% of them said that tenants, at the viewing stage, always ask ‘who is managing the property?’ With 70% of those saying that, given a choice of properties, they would go with the property managed by an agent. I believe tenants feel that dealing with an agent is less personal, they feel that any repairs will be done quicker and that if things go wrong they are better protected when dealing with an...
What Has The Pandemic Taught Us and How Has The Market Changed?
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