Year: 2020

Landlords have reported that over 95% of private tenants are paying their rent OR have made arrangements with their landlord to lower or defer payments during the pandemic.

The independent poll commissioned by the NRLA found that among the landlords canvassed, 87% of their tenants have paid their rent as normal throughout the pandemic.

A further 8% said had agreed a reduced rent, a rent-free period or made some other agreement with their landlord or letting agent.

And only 3% of tenants are building up arrears and are unable or unwilling to repay them – with less than a third of those in arrears or two percent of tenants, being served with a possession notice.

Further evidence that landlords are working to keep tenants in their homes comes from a separate survey which shows that 55 per cent of landlords who have granted at least one tenant a deferred rent or rent free period plan to absorb the losses from their own savings.

The NRLA is also calling on calling for the Government to introduce guaranteed hardship loans to help tenants in England who are in arrears due to the pandemic.

Ahead of the winding down of the furlough scheme, it argues that – similar to the Tenant Saver Loan Scheme launched yesterday by the Welsh Government – such loans should be provided to eligible tenants, interest-free and ring-fenced solely to cover rent payments.

Chief executive Ben Beadle says eviction isn’t inevitable where people have struggled to pay their rent due to COVID-19. “Those who argue otherwise are stoking needless anxiety for tenants,” he says.

“To offer security to tenants and landlords badly hit during the lockdown we are calling on the Government to introduce a tenant loan scheme to help pay off arrears built due to the coronavirus.”

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Labour leader Keir Starmer says the latest extension of the eviction ban is insufficient without a comprehensive plan by government.

“This eleventh hour U-turn was necessary, but such a brief extension means there is a real risk that this will simply give renters a few more weeks to pack their bags” he says.

“Boris Johnson has been warned for months about the looming evictions crisis, but stuck his head in the sand. People living in rented accommodation should not be paying the price for this government’s incompetence.

“Section 21 evictions must be scrapped and renters must be given proper support. The ban should not be lifted until the government has a credible plan to ensure that no-one loses their home as a result of Coronavirus.”

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The largest survey yet conducted about rent payments during the pandemic shows the claims of pressure groups about widespread evictions are unfounded.

Over 95 per cent of 2,243 private tenants questioned in the study are paying rent in full or have an arrangement with their landlord to pay a lower rent or defer payment.

The survey, conducted independently for the National Residential Landlords Association, finds 87 per cent of private tenants have paid rent as normal throughout the pandemic.

An additional eight per cent have agreed a reduced rent, a rent-free period or made some other agreement with their landlord or letting agent

Ahead of the courts beginning to hear possession cases from August 24 the survey shows that just over three per cent of tenants are building arrears and are unable or unwilling to repay.

Less than a third of all those with arrears – so that’s just two per cent of the entire survey sample – have been served with a possession notice.

Further evidence that landlords are working to keep tenants in their homes comes from a separate survey showing 55 per cent of landlords have granted at least one tenant a deferred rent or rent free period to absorb the losses from savings.

These figures come ahead of new rules being introduced which will mean courts can adjourn possession cases where landlords have failed to adequately explain the impact that the pandemic might have had on tenants before seeking possession.

The NRLA says it has developed guidance in conjunction with other groups to support landlords and tenants to agree how to deal with arrears.

It is now calling for government guaranteed hardship loans to be made available to help tenants in arrears because of the pandemic.

Ahead of the winding down of the furlough scheme, the NRLA argues that such loans should be provided to eligible tenants interest free and ring-fenced solely to cover rent payments in order to give tenants security.

“Consistent with our previous surveys, this latest data demonstrates that the vast majority of landlords and tenants are working together to sustain tenancies, and critically that the overwhelming majority of tenants are paying rent as normal” explains NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle.

“Eviction is not, and need not be, an inevitable outcome where tenants have struggled to pay their rent due to Covid-19. Those who argue otherwise are stoking needless anxiety for tenants” he continues.

“When the courts do start to hear cases again, it is essential that they deal swiftly with the most serious cases, including those where tenants are committing anti-social behaviour or where there are long-standing rent arrears that have nothing to do with the pandemic.

“To offer security to tenants and landlords badly hit during the lockdown we are calling on the government to introduce a tenant loan scheme to help pay off arrears built due to the coronavirus.”

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Irwin Mitchell says a lack of guidance means agents and landlords can’t be certain about what judges will do if a notice confirms that a tenant has been affected by COVID-19.

Letting agents and landlords in England have been warned that the Government’s ambiguous possession claims practice direction could cause unwelcome delays to evictions.

Residential property lawyer George Cohen at Irwin Mitchell says a lack of guidance means agents and landlords can’t be certain about what judges will do if a notice confirms that a tenant has been affected by COVID-19.

And while there’s an obligation for agents to inform the court about the tenant’s circumstances relating to COVID-19, they aren’t required to get this information. He says that while it’s been suggested that agents could just specify in their notice that the tenant’s circumstances are simply unknown, this would be a risky strategy.

Adds Cohen (left): “We predict that judges may decide to stay proceedings where a tenant or their dependants have been affected by COVID-19. Similarly, judges could order a stay if the landlord states that the tenant’s circumstances are unknown.”

The new practice direction comes into force on 23rd August when landlords must file and serve a notice setting out what knowledge they have of how the tenant or their dependants have been affected.

Irwin Mitchell says that if they have, landlords and their agents should consider whether they can agree a mutually beneficial compromise which would avoid the need for proceedings to be issued or resumed.

“If the tenant ignores a landlord’s request for information, or refuses to engage, [they] should keep a record of their attempts and provide them to the court,” says Cohen.

If a landlord doesn’t do this, or where a tenant has been affected by COVID-19, Cohen predicts the court may stay the proceedings further to give the tenant some breathing space.

He adds: “We hope that the obligations on landlords will be clarified in due course. What is clear is that landlords can still expect to see delays for residential possession claims in the near future.”

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Geographically accurate tube maps are nothing new — in fact. TfL has previously released its own one into the wild.

What designer Mark Noad has done is a little different: his latest tube map is still heavily inspired by Harry Beck’s circuit diagram-esque map. But look closer and you’ll notice that stations are positioned so they are more geographically accurate in relation to one other.

See, for example, in the lead image, how the Central line starts sloping downward from Marble Arch to Lancaster Gate and Queensway — whereas on the official map, a straight line is retained all the way to Ealing Broadway.

Says Noad: “It is intended to help people, particularly those unfamiliar with the city, to relate the underground
system to London at street level.”

Noad previously released one of these maps in 2011, but this latest edition anticipates the Northern line extension and the much-blighted Elizabeth line (or, as we’ll continue to call it until it opens, Crossrail).

The overall result is a more serpentine, spaghetti-like tussle of lines. As Noad says, it’ll perhaps be more useful to London newbies navigating the city. But we reckon a few purists might have some beef with the layout. Here’s the map in full:

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An HMRC campaign to encourage landlords to voluntarily disclose any tax they owe on their rental properties has only managed to recoup a small percentage of its original target.

Announced in 2013, the let property campaign estimated that up to 1.5m landlords had underpaid or failed to pay up to £500m in tax between 2009 and 2010.

But, via a freedom of information request, chartered accountant Saffery Champness has discovered that since then only 58,779 people – 3.9% – have made voluntarily disclosures to HMRC, despite a recent increase.

The amount of tax yield recorded by HMRC from these disclosures is £163m, or just under a third of the expected haul.

There were 16,318 disclosures in 2018-19, an increase of 147% from the previous year, while this fell by 55% to only 7,362 disclosures in 2019-20.

Offer to pay
One of the campaign’s conditions is that once a taxpayer has informed HMRC of any previously undisclosed relevant income, gains, tax and duties, they have to make a formal offer to pay the full amount owed.

Saffery Champness partner Zena Hanks believes legislative changes may have unsettled landlords who were unsure of their new tax position.

She says: “The spike in the number of disclosures in 2018-19 may reflect the emerging threat of requirement to correct penalties, which began to be levied on undisclosed foreign property rental income as of 1st October 2018. It may also be a consequence of the property tax changes that have been introduced in recent years.”

Hanks adds: “The most common reason that was cited for disclosing to the campaign was taxpayer failure to notify HMRC of liabilities in the first place, which is likely a reflection of the fact that many of these landlords may have been unaware that they owed anything at all.”

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The evictions ban has been extended until September 20 with new six month notice periods brought in, it has been confirmed today.

The National Residential Landlords Association has branded the moves totally unacceptable. It is now calling for a comprehensive package of financial support to help landlords.

Ben Beadle, CEO of the National Residential Landlords Association said: “A blanket extension is unacceptable, especially so close to the deadline.

“An enormous amount of work has gone into finding a balance between supporting tenants who have been affected by the pandemic and preventing significant financial harm to landlords, in accordance with the Government’s promise. This announcement satisfies no one.

“Landlords have been left powerless in exercising their legal right to deal with significant arrears unrelated to Covid-19, anti-social behaviour and extremely disruptive tenants who make life miserable for their neighbours and housemates.

“Private landlords cannot be expected to foot the bill for government failure. There must now be a plan to support households to pay their bills and to compensate landlords fully for their lost income.

“Only this will give both tenants and landlords security and reduce the risk of widespread tenancy failure.”

The government confirmed today that when hearings restart the judiciary will  prioritise the most serious cases including those involving anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse and arrears spanning over a year.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, who made the announcement, confirmed the six month notice period – which will apply to all bar serious cases of anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse – will be in place until the end of March.

He said: “I know this year has been challenging and all of us are still living with the effects of COVID-19. That is why today I am announcing a further four week ban on evictions, meaning no renters will have been evicted for six months.

“I am also increasing protections for renters – six-month notice periods must be given to tenants, supporting renters over winter.

“However, it is right that the most egregious cases, for example those involving anti-social behaviour or domestic abuse perpetrators, begin to be heard in court again; and so when courts reopen, landlords will once again be able to progress these priority cases.”

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Landlords are today welcoming news the Government has accepted its recommendations on how the new Green Homes Grant scheme should work.

The NRLA has long campaigned for support for landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their homes – which will benefit tenants through lower utility bills.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced plans, which will see the Government provide at least two-thirds of the cost of energy efficiency improvement works in his Summer Statement.

Landlords will be able to claim up to £5,000 per rental property.

The association wrote to the government in the wake of the announcement, outlining ways it believed the scheme should operate to best benefit landlords and tenants.

It has now been confirmed that energy efficiency work, funded through government grants must be carried out by TrustMark qualified engineers, in line with NRLA recommendations.

The detailed guidance also stressed the range of measures covered by the scheme should be comprehensive, which was also flagged by the NRLA.

The Government’s plans say that energy efficiency works should include some element of insulation or low carbon heat installation to qualify for the subsidy, which can then also be used to fund a range of other measures such as draught proofing, replacing windows or doors and installing heat controls.

The Government has also confirmed today that vouchers will be available from September – although has yet to detail exactly how landlords apply for the funding.

NRLA policy director Chris Norris said: “Today’s announcement is good news for landlords and tenants, and demonstrates what can be achieved when the Government works constructively with landlords.

“Energy efficient homes are clearly important to improving health, reducing household bills and meeting the Government’s ambitions around carbon reduction.

“We welcome the clarity around what measures will be included as part of the Green Homes Grant scheme and encourage landlords to make use of this important initiative when it opens.”

The NRLA is still awaiting further detail as to how landlords apply for grants, but would advise members to start the process now by getting an early assessment to identify their needs and the options open to them.

The association is currently talking to the government to produce a guide on how to access the new grants which will be uploaded to the website.

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Research by a lettings agency suggests the pandemic has radically reshaped tenants’ demands. – and the process is still going on.

Benham and Reeves surveyed over 1,700 tenants asking them to rank several rental property features on their importance, before comparing this to the same survey results from last year.

The 2020 figures show that fast broadband is the most sought after feature as a potential future of working from home looms – this was only the second most sought after feature in the previous survey before the pandemic.

The more significant changes have been the prioritisation of outside space and the availability of nearby green areas such as parks.

These features now rank as the second and third most important to tenants, while in the previous survey they were only the seventh and ninth most important features.

A concierge or on-site security remains relatively unchanged in importance. At the same time, excellent transport links within a nine-minute walk used to be the number one priority but now sit as the fifth most important.

More social features, such as a cinema room or gym, came in as the least important, whereas previously they ranked mid-table.

“There’s no doubt that the spread of the Coronavirus has had a notable impact on the property prioritisation of tenants. These emerging trends are likely to continue with talk of a second wave and many preempting another potential lockdown” explains agency director Marc von Grundherr.

“That’s not to say that tenants don’t want the traditional facilities such as an on-site gym or social area to relax in. However, the ability to work successfully from home, while also having the option to take some time out in the fresh air, are undoubtedly the biggest draws at present.

“This is likely to be the case for the foreseeable future, although we should see a seasonal adjustment as the long sunny days start to disappear.”

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Strutt and Parker says the low level growth in the lettings market seen in prime central London in 2019 is being undermined by a major supply glut since the pandemic began.

This is due to the collapse of the short-term lets market in the capital, which the  agency warns is unlikely to recover fully this year.

Lettings transaction levels are also significantly down, it warns.

In Q2 2020, rental transactions equated to just 32 per cent of Q2 2019 transaction levels.

“This indicates that there is pent up demand and now that people are able to move into rental properties again, it is expected that transactions will start to recover, albeit at a slow rate” says the agency’s latest market snapshot.

Renewals are happening at lower rates and some tenants may need to negotiate rent reductions due to job uncertainty, the agency warns.

The combined effect of all this, the agency warns, is that rents will fall by between two and 10 per cent this year.

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