To think ending the eviction ban just as the Indian variant is spreading is a very bad idea

[Tealightsandd]

Hundreds of thousands of families and vulnerable individuals could soon become homeless all around the same time. Just as the Indian Covid variant is starting to spread...

It's a potential public health issue - and a taxpayer one too. It will cost loads to house them all in expensive but cramped (ideal Covid spreading conditions) temporary accommodation.

Rent arrears can't just keep building and landlords need the rent paying. But mass evictions during a pandemic aren't the answer.

Lots of people have lost their jobs or are too ill with Long Covid to work. Many are struggling to pay their rent.

The solution is an increase to housing welfare benefits so that tenants can afford private rents.

Separately, rent arrears and severe anti social behaviour aside (which should be dealt with by the police as well as landlords), currently England allows no fault evictions. Tenants can and are evicted, despite being fully paid up on rent. Bad at any time. Potentially deadly during a pandemic.

Many landlords are nowhere close to living that fancy lifestyle. I make no money at all from the rent. 40% of it goes straight to taxes, you know, what goes to help the vulnerable. By the time I pay for insurance, gas, electric checks, repairs, replacements, all the things that benefits the tenants, pay interests and agency fees, I am just about breakeven. If ,y tenants stop paying, its money that will have to come out of my own earned income from my FT job. As already said, it doesn’t stop to amaze me how some expect people like me to act as a charity, yet see nothing wrong of having to pay high tax on the business, unlike charities

This ^^
Landlords are not charities.

You sign a contract agreeing to pay rent to live in THEIR property. If you can’t pay the rent any longer it’s not the landlord’s fault. You need to find somewhere you can afford, or present to the council as homeless, or move to a cheaper area, not expect the landlord to take pity on you and give you free housing while you get back on your feet!

Most landlords I know aren’t rich. Many simply made wise financial decisions, saved, worked hard and invested it in property.

Others moved for work and chose to rent their home instead of selling (or letting it sit empty). It might be their only property, so a tenant failing to pay rent means the landlord can’t pay their own rent or keep up the mortgage payments.

You can own a few small properties (like student flats) and be far from wealthy! The rent could be the landlord’s only income.

And yes, lots of tax goes to help the less fortunate. Why should landlords be expected to fund non-paying tenants too, out of their own pockets?

Covid didn’t just hit the unfortunate hard. Plenty of home owners and people with second homes are struggling with their health, jobs, mortgages. Lots of landlords suffered massive financial losses due to universities being shut or properties being unoccupied during the pandemic when nobody could travel.

@vivainsomnia

Surely this should be up to the agency that awards the housing benefit to check the claim is genuine How? How do they pick up people who are lying. Or are genuine then but stop being so as soon as they move in (with their partner for instance when claiming to be single)?

in the same way they do it now?

or used the hb on much more worthy expenses?). That just about sums it up doesn't it?

Wah! Wah! It's not fair we have to actually pay someone to live in a home we don't own Wah! Wha!

@vivainsomnia I just wondered, do you have a car? Maybe a nice pair of shoes, size 7? Or have a picture that would look good on my wall? I don't wanna pay for it, just want it cos you have it and I don't!

How? How do they pick up people who are lying. Or are genuine then but stop being so as soon as they move in (with their partner for instance when claiming to be single)? That's actually quite easy. But many landlords don't follow through because when they get a shit tenant they are just happy to have their property back.

The remedy, as espoused by many across the various industry magazines forums etc, is to spend a bit of additional money and to take the tenant to court and get a CCJ agains their name. Wreck their credit for at least 6 years.

Another is to take the Tenant's Voice idea about a mandatory Landlord Register and having a Mandatory Tenant Register too.

There are many other legal remedies...

HB overpayments can be recovered from the landlord if it was paid directly to the landlord. The landlord then has the ability to pursue the tenant for any unpaid rent.

If the HB was paid to the tenant, then it's their overpayment and nothing to do with the landlord.

As it happens, I have every sympathy for landlords stuck with tenants who haven't bothered to pay their rent.

The Courts actually implemented a system during the break last year when evictions were back on.

If a tenant could provide proof that their rent had been affected by covid (eg lost wages) the Courts would take that into account.

Unfortunately a lot of cases that go through the Courts are people who aren't willing to pay the rent. Judges are pretty good at finding out who actually can't pay. Housing associations are usually willing to reach a compromise if they believe the tenant is willing.

But @CuriousaboutSamphire but why should it be landlords who are responsible for taking tenants to court because tenants have lied to the DHSS? All your asking them to do is spend more money with virtually no hope of retrieving their losses or their costs. Instead, what most landlords prefer to do is avoid direct payments or avoid HB claimants altogether. Leaving these more vulnerable individuals/families to rent from the more dubious landlords (worse properties, less choice of tenant) if they cant get a council or HA property.

A register of landlords and tenants is a nice idea if linked to solid pieces of I'd. Anyone can change their name/business name. But at the end of the day it is for the DHSS to get the people it pays benefits to and their responsibility to reclaim those benefits from the individual if wrongly paid out. The landlord has kept their side of the bargain.

That's my point @BarbarianMum Most landlords don't take things further because of the additional costs and hassle. So shite tenants walk away leaving their damages and arrears behind them, landlords to pick up the cost. Most people advocating for tenants, calling landlords all sorts of stupid names, don't appreciate just how much such tenants get to walk away from because the law is as it is.

The rest is just me riffing on the many and varied daft suggestions from across the indiustry press and related SM.

The reality is that the system allows landlords and tenants alike to treat the other badly. Thankfully most on both sides are reasonable!

Maybe off topic, but the posters on here that have horrid tenants - did you interview/ meet your tenants prior to the contract?

I once had an LL call round to my old house that I was moving from for a 'cup of tea'. Yes, I thought it was a bit rude because it was obvious he wanted to see how clean we kept the place but once he'd had a sit in the sitting room, checked out the garden and used the bathroom, he passed me the contract to sign. Rude, but quite clever really.

I've always met prospective tenants for a 'cup of tea' at our rental house and found it invaluable in finding people I can get along with. I can't imagine using an agency as I think they are too money focused. My current tenant has been there 8 years and she's lovely (as I believed she'd be). We've never increased the rent because we want her to stay.

Or is that a bit unreasonable/ unfair to pick on personal preference?

I've only had one nightmare set of tenants and they seemed very nice when I met them. They didnt have references from a previous landlord because they were newly arrived in the country but I've let to people of many nationalities before and since and never had a problem. The management agent was shit too which didnt help when problems arose so I changed them at the same time as I evicted these tenants. Mostly I put it down to bad luck but I am much less likely to go in softly, softly now if there are problems.

It is hard to judge, my Dsis carried out interviews and met a lovely woman in her 30's working with 2DC she thought she's perfect, the tenant pays rent on time but has the house wrecked, she never cleans, she needed a replacement shower he bathroom was thick with dust, urine, faeces, thick black mould, the blinds are all black, at this stage it'll cost her 20,000 to redo it, it's a 5 year leased through the local council she is in it 3.
She has 3 tenants this one is the worst.
They're planning on redoing and selling.

@BarbarianMum
@EmeraldShamrock

Aw, that sucks. I guess none of us have a crystal ball.

My lovely tenant had been in China for 5 years so I guess she was a gamble so no references but I liked the way she was with her kids and my DS. Plus she's a Beamter (Germany)- special class of government employee. They are supposed to uphold a 'moral' life lol..

I suppose it's always a gamble. Just as it is for the tenant.

@Shtsandgiggles

Not a dig but it's worth remembering that if anyone get cheaper accommodation due to the government financial help

Then another worker has had more tax taken out of their monthly pay to pay for it

I wonder what the split is between the social and private rented sectors when it comes to housing costs being fully or partially covered by benefits?

I'd be interested to know how much of the taxpayer's contribution goes to private landlords, and pays their BTL mortgages.

@Memlane

The discretionary housing payment is in place to help tenants who can’t pay their full rent in these sort of circumstances. The cap on housing benefit in private rented properties isn’t the cause of evictions at the moment.

And the amount of money councils have allocated to discretionary housing payments appears to be shrinking, along with other non-statutory spending, thanks to the erosion of the central government grant to local government.

My homeless prevention colleagues are finding it harder and harder to get DHPs for clients, but councils seem to be happy to award them when they're council tenants, because it reduces the council's own rent arrears.

@Dddccc

The mass evictions won't take place for over 12 months for most since the court have a huge backlog and will also be prioritising those with over 6 months rent arrears, no housing benefit should not be increased it bad enough they cover rents to the tune of 3k a month in some areas and most housing benefit covers rent just not for those who live in expensive areas, more social housing is required and they should stop selling off houses unless they replace them, also downsize tenants when need ie some around here live in a 3 bed and only 1 person lives in the house

Given that the benefit cap in London, is £23,000, and a lot less in other areas, the only families getting £3k a month in rent covered by benefits will be those where someone in the family has a disabling health condition.

And the only place I could find where the LHA (the maximum that benefits will pay for housing) exceeds £3k a month is for 3- and 4-bed houses in the central London Broad Rental Market Area, so only a tiny proportion of claimants will be getting anything like that much.

We had awful tenants once. It was our old student house, when we left that city we rented it to a family. It was in beautiful condition with all our furniture.

They trashed the place, caused thousands of pounds of damage, left maggot infested bin bags around the house AND failed to pay rent for 6 months before we finally managed to evict them. Once we’d cleaned the place up and replaced the carpets and broken stuff we sold it. Far too much hassle and expense renting a small family home.

We lost a lot of money on that property thanks to the awful tenants who caused all the damage.

@RickJames 1 bad set of tenants in 20 years of renting is pretty good tbf. You hear such horror stories but they really dont match my exoperience- as a landlord or, years ago, as a tenant.

At the end of the day though, it's a business and not exempt from the usual rules. You do the maths, act professionally, treat your clients well and dont take the occasional bit of bad personally. And if it doest pay, get out.

I'd be interested to know how much of the taxpayer's contribution goes to private landlords, and pays their BTL mortgages.

Loads. Particularly when it comes to temporary accommodation. Private landlords charge something like 5 times the usual market rents to local authorities to place evicted homeless families and disabled. Very often it will be substandard housing but the councils have nowhere else to put the ever increasing number of homeless.

The eviction ban ending during a pandemic that has seen so many lose their livelihoods (and so struggle to pay rents) will cost the taxpayer dearly.