Trade bodies all agree that in spite of the Coronavirus crisis tenants have a responsibility to do their utmost to continue to pay their rent, however the government has still not yet fully clarified rent holiday details.

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One association has stated that an ever increasing number of tenants are under the impression they do not have to pay their rent because of Covoid-19.

However it believes that tenants should continue to pay their rent wherever possible and said that the government must issue concise and clear guidance to ‘put the record straight’ for both landlords and tenants.

As previously reported across the main stream media, the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick from March 26th banned any new or existing eviction processes over a three month period, and landlords must give tenants three month notice if they wish to repossess their property.

Many tenant and renter groups are demanding rent breaks because of wage cuts, job losses and having to sign up to Universal Credit, as well as being at risk from infection.

The association is asking landlords to try to be as flexible as possible if their tenants are facing uncertainty and hardship, but this should not turn into a ‘carte blanche’ for tenants to stop paying their rent.

The association says that because some mortgage lenders have agreed to give their BTL customers a three month mortgage payment holiday some tenants believe that they should also be entitled to a rent break.

A recent Commons question was answered by the government stating that tenants who are affected by the pandemic could be allowed a three month rent break.

Lord Taylor of Warwick asked whether the government plans to legislate a break and Baroness Bloomfoeld of Hinton Waldrist responded by stating that the government had already announced PRS emergency legislation.

A spokesperson for the association said: “The mortgage repayment holiday is only available for landlords who are struggling to make their payments because their tenants are unable to pay part or all of their rent as a direct result of the Coronavirus and through no fault of their own.

“It is not an automatic payment holiday and landlords who successfully apply still have to make these payments later on. It is not a grant.”

The spokesperson said that if landlords do not receive rental payments then many may have to leave the sector because of their monthly livelihood dependency, which will inevitably lead to a “housing supply crisis”.