Which Landlords are classed as self-employed for Coronavirus help?

Reply to the comment left by Neil Patterson at 27/03/2020 - 10:37
I think we should all start emailing the top people at NRLA asking them to support their landlord members. They should be reaching out to gather our suggestions and making an immediate petition to government on our behalf. The people to contact are:
Chief Executive, Ben Beadle – ben.beadle@nrla.org.uk or Policy Director, Chris Norris – chris.norris@nrla.org.uk

Reply to the comment left by SimonP SimonP at 29/03/2020 - 03:46
I think we should all start emailing the top people at NRLA asking them to support their landlord members. They should be reaching out to gather our suggestions and making an immediate petition to government on our behalf. The people to contact are:
Chief Executive, Ben Beadle – ben.beadle@nrla.org.uk or Policy Director, Chris Norris – chris.norris@nrla.org.uk

Reply to the comment left by at 03/04/2020 - 12:04
I think we all need to support each other and in this respect have taken your lead and sent an email to Chief Executive Ben Beadle

I just thought I would mention that following my email to Ben Beadle today at 15.19, I received a reply from him withe details of what they were trying to achieve which I believe is a very good start. I think it best that as many of you write stating what you wish to see implemented and hopefully something will be achieved.

Reply to the comment left by Rob Thomas at 27/03/2020 - 15:11
My part commercial/residential property (takeaway with flat above) tenant told me that he is only paying me £300 as from April. Can’t get UC as I got more than £16000 asset. So the government is expecting my husband and I to live on £300 per month,!! Even UC get over £400 per month. Do have some bank shares, but now they are not paying any dividends this year. Nobody want to buy the property atm. So WHAT shall I do????

Reply to the comment left by Clint at 03/04/2020 - 21:49
And what are they "trying to achieve"?

Reply to the comment left by SimonP SimonP at 04/04/2020 - 17:15This I think is a start at a very bad time so the new NLRA should be given a chance.
See below for correspondence:
Dear Mr xxxx
In this time where landlords are not able to rent or sell empty properties and or evict tenants who are anti-social and or not paying rents even though the eviction may have started before the Covid 19 legislation came in, is the NLRA doing anything in respect of lobbying the government to give us financial support. All other forms of working people seem to have been given support.
I would suggest at the very least, landlords should be treated like the self employed where they are given up to £2300 p.c.m. where an average of their last 3 years are taken to be their average monthly earnings.
Kind Regards
Clint
______________________________________________

Hi Clint
Thanks for your email.
We’ve done a huge amount of engaging with the Minister, MHCLG, The Treasury, DWP and the Downing Street Policy team. We think that supporting people our of work through improved universal credit provisions and guaranteeing wages (albeit to a point) is a good thing – because simply put, it puts money in people’s pockets to be able to pay rent. Landlords benefit from this.
I accept though, the messaging around this and particularly the mortgage holiday alongside it (which is of limited help in truth), is perceived by some as “I’ll get three months’ rent off”. This obviously isn’t the case, and although the guidance references a clear comment by the minister to honour tenancies and pay rent, there needs to be a statement that makes this abundantly clear. We will be making this on Monday.
We also want to see:
- A temporary suspension of the five week wait for the first payment of Universal Credit or the conversion of advance payments into grants. Tenants should not be expected to rely on building debts to get through this period.
- For a temporary period at least, make the direct payment of the housing element of Universal Credit to the landlord automatic, providing the tenant and landlord with confidence about the payment of rent.
- Increasing the Local Housing Allowance rate to the 50th percentile
Your point about the self employed I fully appreciate and I have a call scheduled with the minister on Thursday – where I will be conveying this and a number of other points:
- Faced with such unprecedented circumstances many landlords will struggle financially, especially in situations where, even with the support available from the Government, tenants are struggling to pay their rent. Given this, we would call for the following measures which would greatly improve landlords confidence:
- Given the freeze on letting activity, a commitment that landlords will not be liable for the council tax on properties that are empty.
- Postponing until April next year, the full restriction of mortgage interest relief to the basic rate of income tax.
I too am a landlord and I share everyone’s pain very personally. These things affect me as well as our members and you can be assured we are petitioning hard to get the best outcomes for our members – you may already have seen our firm stance in replying to NUS’ open letter. I don’t know whether you are an RLA or NLA member, but there is plenty of useful guidance that I hope you have found helpful - https://www.rla.org.uk/campaigns/coronavirus/index.shtml
Thank you for taking the time to write to me and I wish you well.
xxxx

I believe as each landlord has different needs it would be best to write directly to Ben Beadle so that he is aware what is more important to you as a landlord. I believe major changes are required to UC
So responded to the email as above as below:
Hi xxxx
Thank you so much for your very speedy response that has come as quite a surprise to me. I am glad to see that the NRLA are dealing with our concerns and hopefully now that the NLA and RLA have amalgamated our representation will be taken more seriously. I am a member of the NLA, the National Landlords Alliance and an avid reader of property118 and have read your letter to the NUS and have also read the guidance given in your link.
Understandably, we all have to play a part in this unusual challenging times however, as I am a landlord who has been supporting benefit tenants since 2003, and renting since 1996, the playing field has totally changed and UC requires a total overhaul which I cannot see happening however, at the very least there should be a strong campaign to have the rental element paid directly to the landlord.
I had some very good benefit tenants when there was housing benefit and the rent was paid directly to the landlord however now, I am in the position where a very large number of tenants end up in arrears due to late payments of UC, often payments not made to the tenants where they don’t have a reasonable explanation and worse still many decide that they have fallen so far behind that just decide not to make any payment. The whole UC system is a disaster and seems to be a gamble in getting one’s normal rent more than anything else
Hopefully, the government will now take the new landlord body more seriously and they will start acting more reasonably and I thank you for acting on our behalf.
Kind Regards
Clint

Reply to the comment left by Clint at 04/04/2020 - 17:23
Thanks, Clint.

Disgraceful government. I am a landlord where most of my tenants have moved out due to Coronavirus. I have hardly any income at all anymore, I cant re-let them due to lockdown, the banks have said they will help by suspending all mortgage payments for 3 months BUT will add the interest every month onto the initial loan thus increasing it by tens of thousands over the period of the loan (not very helpful after all). The government says i'm not entitled to any money as a result of being a landlord, i cannot even claim universal credit!. I have a family and my own residential mortgage, bills to pay, food to put on the table. Incredible.

Ive paid my taxes every year, for decades...for what?... So I now have, no income, loans increased, no help from anywhere!!!......well that's being a landlord for you in the UK. I'm selling everything up asap, and then moving abroad for a better quality of life where people who takes risks, pay their taxes and work hard are actually rewarded and not penalized by the government.

Its also interesting the amount of help for tenants but not landlord. Ive never met a landlord that causes their tenant pain and suffering so that the tenant does not have to pay the rent every month. Ive been in the business over 15 years only and never heard or seen a landlord causing tenants any heartache, in fact its almost always the other way around. Let the government reap what they sow. This is come back to haunt them soon.