CORVID-19: Expensive Evictions, Mortgage Holiday, Isolation
CORVID-19: Evictions, Mortgage Holiday, Isolation
Amid the outbreak of the Coronavirus (Corvid-19) pandemic new legislation has come into force regarding landlords, tenants and the property sector in general.
Tenant Evictions
Laws to protect tenants from eviction due to the Coronavirus (Corvid-19) are be brought forward by the government within its emergency legislation package.
The aim is to protect the 20 million people living in rented homes, including three million households with children.
Landlords will have to wait for 3 months rent arrears before they can begin the tenant eviction process.
From March 27th 2020 all ongoing possession proceedings are suspended for 90 days with an option to extend the suspension further.
As a result, it will not be possible for anyone to be granted a possession order or enforce a possession order until the end of June at the earliest.
Mortgage Holiday
After initially saying there were no plans to let landlords enjoy mortgage payment holiday if their tenants got into financial trouble, the government has now relented and included them within its Coronavirus (Corvid-19) plans.
The government has performed a dramatic U-turn and agreed that landlords should be offered the same three-month mortgage holidays as residential home loan holders after initially leaving them out of its original announcement.
Landlords whose tenants are in financial difficulty caused by the Coronavirus (Corvid-19) can contact their lender and arrange to suspend all mortgage payments. It is perceived that the payments will be added to the end of the existing mortgage term, so that a 25-year mortgage would become a 25-year-and-three-month mortgage.
Self Isolation
Much of a letting agent’s / landlords work involves meeting different people and visiting homes on a day-to-day basis – and with the current events surrounding Coronavirus (Corvid-19), it is more important than ever for agents to know their rights and safety responsibilities.
It is important when carrying out property inspections and keeping comprehensive audit trails. Audit trails are a vital record of any interaction, communication or action taken with a client and are key in the event of a complaint or dispute.
Due to current restrictions surrounding Coronavirus, many people across the country are beginning to self-isolate within their homes, which can make certain parts of a landlord or letting agent’s job tricky – particularly inspections.
Summary
Landlords now have a 3 month mortgage payment holiday if required.
Tenants have the right to occupy landlords property with upto 3 months rent arrears before eviction proceedings begin.
Tenants self isolating can refuse entry for scheduled inspections (gas safety checks etc). Landlords will need to obtain proof of refused entry to protect themselves.
If you’re affected as a landlord or tenant, feel free to contact us.