and they want a 3 month rent break as it is being put about that there will be a 3 month mortgage deferment (not applicable for us as we own the flat outright).
Background info: the tenants have been with us several years and have never missed a payment (but it has been a close-run thing on a couple of occasions) and do not cause us any real worries. Both work and the lady in the partnership is in full-time by not highly-paid public sector employment. Whilst they are nice enough, they are quite sharp cookies and the light-speed of their request has surprised us to be honest.
Has anyone else been approached by their tenants in a similar vein?
Is there an industry-standard approach someone can push me in the direction of?
Do I request evidence of being laid-off?
I do not want to see them in difficulty or have them leave as this will pass (hopefully sooner rather than later), so does a rent of £100 each month for the next two months sound totally acceptable and a sensible way forward? Their usual rent is £600, so this would be a significant saving.
All thoughts/comments/pearls of wisdom/ideas very welcome and I suspect this will be of interest to others who may well find themselves in this situation.
Clif, thanks for this post, I was about to create one.
In case of tenants request to stop paying for 3 months the questions are:
can I ask tenants to supply evidence of infections?
can I investigate their lifestyle in order to understand what they are doing to avoid to put themselves at risk?
I can’t take possession of my property because effectively section 21 will be banned for three months. Once stopping my mortgage payments, can I recover the costs from the tenants?
Can the tenants looking after their children claim rent suspensions following school closures ?
I’m sure there are many more questions to be answered.
The above questions should have been discussed by politicians and landlords groups before release inaccurate information.
I can see a surge of tenants trying to stop payments using all possible reasons linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
Apologies if this may offend someone, but as business point of view, some questions should have been answered.
Thanks for your reply.
I should have said they is no way they would be able to pay any missed months rents going forward - we are not deluding ourselves that would ever happen. It would also be useful for the Govt to expand on their ideas pronto rather than just playing to the Tenants Gallery.
Are you advocating that tenants have to pay more than their contracted rent due to a global pandemic? This is not a money making opportunity. And my other argument is, if a landlord owns a property outright, why is there a debate over how to secure money from a tenant when they have stated they are in financially difficulty? Everyone knows that tenants will be required to provide evidence of job loss and/or reduced wage, the idea that this global crisis will spark a wave of sneaky tenents trying to get out of paying rent all together, or requires investigation of their ‘lifestyle’ or an opportunity to charge interest on rent is grotesque. You may own the property, but to the people renting from you it is their home and main source of stability. Please have some humanity.
None is saying tenants would have to pay more. And it’s not about humanity. We all want the best for our tenants. And I’m sure we are all going to take a hit from all these. I’d just say it needs to be fair and the burden shouldn’t simply be passed on to the landlord.
And the mortgage holiday that is on offer actually means what you’ve just described as horrible, interest keeps growing and the capital and extra interest accrued during those three months are still payable, so it’s only fair we offer a similar deal to tenants. Not with interest, but that if rent is not paid for three months, at least a part of that should be repaid afterwards, wouldn’t you agree?
For many of us, this is our livelihood. We are in a similar situation that the tenant that gets laid off. I personally, if I loose the rent I will struggle to pay my bills. I’m actually on a fairly low income and the rent from my hose is a good chunk of my total income. There are probably many other landlords like me. I just want it to be fair for everyone. To me the mortgage holiday is no really that helpful if I have to repay it later. It’s just giving me loan which I rather don’t take.
I think we have to do our best to assist everyone through this unprecedented crisis.
Unfortunately there will be con artists shamelessly exploiting this awful situation to their own ends, most landlords will already know who these people are going to be.Of course the vast majority of people will be genuine and deserving of any assistance we landlords can provide.Ultimately it has to be sustainable for both parties and hopefully our government will assist with this.
What noone needs is people making unsustainable and unreasonable demands on landlords and tenants.We are all in this together and I am sure the good people of the UK will be doing their best to get through this crisis safely with a positive outcome for all.
It may not be required but IF I offer my tenants any reduction in their rent it will either be non repayable OR repayable without interest.
Prompted by nobody at all, I had already considered offering a fixed term of say 3 months where I would expect my tenants to cover my costs only ie. my (low) mortgage on the property and insurances. I would not qualify for any mortgage holiday if it is means tested. Not worked it out yet but would probably equate to somewhere around one third to one half of their current rental payment. I would of course require some proof of hardship caused directly or indirectly by Covid 19.
So, Alexandra, think again about the insinuations you are making on zero evidence.
What exactly is a payment holiday?
If this is payments simply written off then yes lots of people will be tempted to try it on.
I might be wrong but my understanding is that the payments would just be deferred.
Without crippling the tenant financially, the money owed would have to be paid back fairly gradually, but still paid back.
Yes were running a business and not a charity, but deferred payments are still payments.
Alexandra4 renting out a property entails many costs. The rent pays these and provides an income for us as pensioners - husband over 70 now, as a return on our investment in the property. There is no other way to earn money to live on for people like us and this is our one asset. The Government seems not to be aware that pausing mortgage payments doesn’t help those many landlords who owe nothing on their house, but need the income. Hopefully somebody will tell them before this law is passed.
I can’t believe you said that Alexandra. Just because a property is owned outright does not mean that there are no expenses. We have paid a total of £6000+ on upgraded boilers and bathrooms. Landlord licences and insurance on top. No caring landlord wants to see anyone in dire straits but nor do we want to be taken for fools and taken advantage of. I think you need to rethink what you said. At the end of the day we do this for a reason. In my case I have no pension and the rents pay me a nominal wage. Having said that I am happy to help the tenant out if necessary but expect them ti be truthful about their situation and not abuse my good nature.
OK, Alexandra, let’s turn this round: why should I not “push for rent of any kind still?”
My reply to your question is that they still have one income coming in and I am need the income off their rent or I will be in exactly the same position they are in as I am not a charity. xxx