1st
Apr 2021
A trade body urges the government to ‘fund’ nearly a million tenants (approx. 840,000+) that are in rental arrears because of Covid-19 and have little chance of ever being to repay their debt.
Letting agents and landlords will almost certainly be facing a surge in abandoned tenancies and re-possessions once the eviction ban ends on 31st May.
The body issues a stark warning by predicting that landlords and agents will have to face a massive referencing challenge because so many potential renters have had their credit scores significantly damaged along with non-payment records.
This will make it significantly more difficult for renters to find new homes with landlords having to find other means to combat the issue by choosing to charge higher rents and/or using guarantor schemes.
The trade body held a survey with landlords with 60% stating their tenants owed them rent and 39% saying their rental arrears were ‘ stacking up’.
As to the possibility of tenants being evicted this is fast diminishing in spite of the government’s permission for exemptions to the rule, but to gain repossession of properties is a long and slow process taking on average twelve months.
The trade body states the only way to resolve the crisis is for the government to offer financial assistance to both landlords and tenants by helping to pay off the considerable rental arrears; the court system must prepare to be up and running by using virtual courts to make the hearings’ process far quicker.
A spokesperson for the body, said: “While many landlords and tenants have worked well in responding to the challenges posed by the pandemic, we are now at a crunch point.
“As the country follows the roadmap out of lockdown, so too emergency measures in the rental market will need to be eased.”
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