Free Landlord advice

You will need to check with the provider of the cover as many products have been removed or revised since the start of the crisis. Our product will still cover you, but there have been some changes to the timing of payments and limitation to the maximum amount covered.

You can speak to your mortgage lender and request a mortgage holiday if needed. This may be more beneficial to helping your tenants through a difficult time as you could use the mortgage free period to give your tenants a payment plan to allow them to pay less rent for a short time, and then make up the difference for a few months after when things are getting back to normal.

Yes, nothing changes here – perhaps now more than ever people are keen to have long term stability, so renewing tenancies is still a core part of our business.

It would be unreasonable to expect your tenant to vacate if they have stated they are self-isolating. We also believe the courts would not look favourably on any action to evict a tenant who is self-isolating. Our advice would be to work closely with the tenant through this difficult time to work out an agreement that suits both parties.

The Coronavirus Act 2020 came into force on 26th March concerning the law relating to landlords serving notice. The notice periods for tenants serving notice remains unchanged. Until 20th September 2020, although this may extend, the notice period a landlord must give a tenant has increased to three (3) months; replacing the previous requirement of two (2) weeks and two (2) months respectively.

Courts are also currently not accepting claims for possession to give tenants more stability during the crisis. This is initially for a 90 day period from the 27th March 2020, but could be extended further.

It would be unreasonable to expect your tenant to vacate if they have stated they are self-isolating. We also believe the courts would not look favourably on any action to evict a tenant who is self-isolating. Our advice would be to work closely with the tenant through this difficult time to work out an agreement that suits both parties.

The Coronavirus Act 2020 came into force on 26th March concerning the law relating to landlords serving notice. The notice periods for tenants serving notice remains unchanged. Until 20th September 2020, although this may extend, the notice period a landlord must give a tenant has increased to three (3) months; replacing the previous requirement of two (2) weeks and two (2) months respectively.

Courts are also currently not accepting claims for possession to give tenants more stability during the crisis. This is initially for a 90 day period from the 27th March 2020, but could be extended further.

• Rent Protection – if you already have this in place then you should have any unpaid rent covered (depending on the policy wording).
• Mortgage Payment Holiday – if you have a mortgage you may be able to ask the lender for a payment holiday if your tenants can’t pay. This won’t be open ended but may buy you and your tenants some breathing space until the crisis is over.
• Offer A Rent Payment Holiday – if you don’t have a mortgage you can still offer the tenants some flexibility if they are in difficulty, providing your finances allow you to do so.

The Coronavirus Act 2020 came into force on 26th March concerning the law relating to landlords serving notice. The notice periods for tenants serving notice remains unchanged. Until 20th September 2020, although this may extend, the notice period a landlord must give a tenant has increased to three (3) months; replacing the previous requirement of two (2) weeks and two (2) months respectively.

Government guidelines currently only allow essential maintenance work to be carried out. However, this is still subject to the tenants allowing access (which they may refuse) and finding a contractor who is willing to work in a property that is occupied. As a rule of thumb work can be undertaken in vacant properties, but greater consideration must be given to work needed in an occupied property.

The law remains the same, which means landlords are required to take the same steps to keep their properties safe and legally compliant. If access is refused you should keep a record of each time the tenants refuse access. You would be required to show evidence of this later if you were challenged about non-compliance and you should make more than one attempt. If you are in a situation where you can’t find a contractor to carry out work this should again be documented and you should contact as many contractors locally as possible. Work should be booked in for as soon as possible when restrictions have been lifted.

Currently we have put a hold on property visits in line with government advice. In the interim period, where possible, we are asking tenants to send us photographs of the property when a property visit would have been due so that we can still keep an eye on things for you.