Government have created chaos in the PRS

Just a thought. If rental income dries up due to C.Virus. will we be able to claim 80% of lost income from the government as many LLs 'are' self employed ?

Reply to the comment left by Paul Shears at 02/04/2020 - 10:35
You are right. Only bank shares at the moment. However there are rumours that companies who have had, (or their employees have had), substantial government financial help should at least reduce their dividend payouts. But there will be exceptions to reductions in dividends. Shell which currently yields 10% last cut its dividend in 1945! and has put measures in place to try to maintain its payout. There are also utility companies like National Grid, Severn Trent and SSE which should not be unduly affected apart from staff being off sick. I also can't see the dividends being reduced by any of the major supermarkets! Disclaimer - I own shares in several of the companies mentioned and so please don't take this post as a recommendation to buy without doing your own research.

The Bank Of England have asked banks to cancel their next dividend payment to preserve their capital in order to help them with the tsunami of defaults shortly coming their way. (And the “payment holidays” will restrict their cash flow, they’re businesses as well). There’s a lot of bank bashing out there. “All the banks” didn’t get bailed out HSBC, Barclays, Nationwide Building Society to name some of the big players didn’t need Government assistance last time around. I can see quite a few banks needing bailout assistance again.

Thanks for raising this Ros & for everyone's feedback too. Like many others, we too have lost tenants, have empty properties because tenants had served notice pre-lockdown & even had to return a holding deposit on a new let when this crisis broke.
Now we can't let anything post lock down, short or long term. We're not entitled to any benefits or loans as rental income is not regarded as self-employed income & its not a busuness. There is no government provision for landlords like us whose main income comes from rents.
We have possibly one tenant (a family) who seem to think, like others, thry could have a rental holiday but when we asked for evidence to support their loss of income or benefits & how we would work with them to work out a paymrnt plan for arrears, they agreed to pay rhis minth at least, we will see as it's due today.
However, my understanding if we do need to evict is that courts & claims have been suspended for three months (from 1 April) so, the earliest evictions will not be processed until 30th September 2020?? This assumes no further extensions are added to the current position, rushed through law.
This means we have to have contingencies for st least six months??
The other point is when is the 'new' legislation going to be rolled back? Have not seen any mention of this anywhere?
Good luck everyone.

Reply to the comment left by Freda Blogs at 02/04/2020 - 11:03
You are absolutely correct. You are not regarded as self employed if you are a residential landlord. Not really treated as a property business either. Strangely holiday lets seem to come out of this very well. I have just one holiday let which is registered for business rates although have a low rateable value I get 100% exemption from paying. Government grants are a minimum of £10,000 and so I am hopeful I might qualify. I have has 6 cancellations so far and the only booking I have which might happen is for one family who have booked a week for this Christmas! It does seem wrong that people who provide permanent homes are being treated more harshly by the government than owners of holiday homes.

Reply to the comment left by at 02/04/2020 - 11:22
... The newly formed NRLA ( RLA Took - over the NLA , if truth be known ) actually AGREED with Govt over the Total 3 month Ban !!! makes you wonder who's side they're on, doesn't it.

Reply to the comment left by nickh215 at 02/04/2020 - 10:53I wrote to my MP, Andrew Murrison, who is a Foreign Office Minister and he replied saying it only applied to "earned" income implying that profits from lettings aren't earned. A double insult - b*****d.

Reply to the comment left by Lesley Lester at 02/04/2020 - 11:30
Already copied this article to my MP, and demanding that they take this up with the Government.

I recommend everyone does the same.

Excellent article Ros.
Our experience so far is that the govt briefings have just encouraged the won’t payers to continue and be even more brazen. These type of tenants do not read or not want to heed any advice given in lengthy govt. ‘guides’; they react to sound bites and ‘stirring’ on social media!
The 3 month ‘suspension’ on ALL possession cases is just an easy cop out and an affront to natural justice. How can it be seen as ‘equitable’ to block the ability to obtain a warrant for a possession order granted before Covid 19 was even considered?
In reality it could easily now take a year to gain Possession, especially if challenged, as there will inevitably be a deluge of applications the 1st day the Courts re open. It was taking over 8 weeks to get a response to a simple inquiry from Watford County Court prior to the pandemic.
Why the govt thinks it is a good idea or necessary to cripple an entire sectors ability to trade I find bizarre. Is not housing an ‘essential’ service?
A considerable majority of tenants are either unaffected (benefit recipients - no difference) (those working from home - in the main - no difference) (those furloughed on 80% with far less expenses or opportunities to spend - ie no difference or better off) so there is absolutely no need or justification in the majority needing a rent ‘holiday’.
Our biggest challenge is communication with tenants allegedly in difficulty - not one will resound with any kind of detail - eg if made redundant where has last months salary gone - if claiming benefits won’t confirm which benefits applied for...
As a final stab in the back every application we have submitted to DWP for direct payment of the housing element of Uni Credit for tenants over 8 weeks in arrears has been ignored.... Thus the utter madness of paying £000’s in rent support direct to claimants looks to continue

I have 5 small HMO's. Due to tenants leaving, working from home for the foreseeable future and therefore have given notice and moved back in with family and other tenants not paying rent (and not answering phone calls or email messages) I am at least 30% down on rent payments without a hope of filling rooms until the lock down is lifted.
We were looking reduce our portfolio this year as we had had enough of working 24/7 for reduced income. Now not much chance of selling in the near future either and recovering our deposit.
I have been a member of the NLA for many years but have felt very let down on many occasions. Do not feel they stand up for Landlords at all.
To top it all, Coventry Council are introducing licencing for all HMO's. Applications have to be in by 4th May 2020, with huge fines imposed if not. Despite Government directive that this should be delayed the following is on their website.
Shame on Coventry Council
Not sure how I stand now as I only have one tenant left in one of the houses and he's not paying? You have to pay up front for the licence and if the lock down continues until September the bank will be taking possession anyway.
COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
The Additional Licensing designation will still go live on the 4 May 2020, and landlords still need to provide licence applications
We appreciate that landlords will not be able to enter properties to obtain certificates at this time. If certificates have lapsed, please provide the most recent copy you have available. If you have no copies of a given certificate, please upload a Word document explaining the reasons why.
The Council will be taking a pragmatic, risk-based approach to enforcement during this time