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Original poster

Help please - rent 'holiday' - confused

99 replies

Lostatsea1988 · 23/03/2020 09:53

Hi everyone

My husband and I are self-employed and work in our industry (music) has all but dried up. This month's rent is paid but I contacted my Landlord to ask if they would consider a rent holiday if we need one in the next few months.

She replied to say that they could only afford this if they applied for (and got) a rent holiday from their mortgage company (fair enough) but that they would be charged around £600 extra in interest (if the holiday was for three months) and that this would need to paid by us or by our guarantor (my husband's dad). She said "I'd encourage you to think whether there are any other options open to you (e.g. a family loan, housing benefit etc) before embarking on this path".

She is a decent landlord and we love the house, but I'm so angry - why should I pay my Landlord's mortgage?!

OP posts:
Original poster
Lostatsea1988 · 23/03/2020 11:43

Teenangels that's not what's happening / what I'm asking for at all. Please read the thread if you're going to post.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lostatsea1988 · 23/03/2020 11:45

@BonnesVacances I know it's nuts but my husband showed me the maths and because the interest is compound it adds up fast. X

OP posts:
user1333796 · 23/03/2020 11:46

Shouldn't you just be asked to pay the £600 instead of the rent arrears at a later date?

Teenangels · 23/03/2020 11:58

@Lostatsea1988
That is what exactly you are asking for I have read your posts.
A payment holiday on a mortgage incurs interest daily. You are saying that if you can’t pay your rent, why should you pay the interest that the LL incurs, she is doing you a favour. I am sorry but you are a CF in my opinion.

PlugholePencil · 23/03/2020 12:01

Such a shame OP.
I’m a landlord and I’d also swallow the cost myself, although in fairness it wouldn’t be anything like the figures you’ve quoted.
Our tenants have just given notice. Their living arrangements have changed, however if it was because of financial difficulties I’d make an allowance. They’ve been good tenants and this is unprecedented circumstances not a pattern of bad behaviour.

XoXoXo2 · 23/03/2020 12:07

Virtually every grocery store is hiring right now. 1000's of new staff. Why can't you guys get jobs so you can pay your rent?

Mlou32 · 23/03/2020 12:13

I understand that things are difficult for you at the moment OP however I understand the LLs side of it as well. Just because she owns (and may not even own it outright, it may be mortgaged) doesn't mean that she should be out of pocket. She may depend on this money as income, as we all depend on our incomes. If she is happy to meet you halfway and contact the bank to arrange a payment holiday then you should be meeting her halfway as well.

I actually blame the bloody banks! Look at how much us, the taxpayer, bailed them for in the past. Surely in our time of need, they shouldn't be slapping on an extra 600 quid for a 3 month mortgage holiday?

Hoggleludo · 23/03/2020 12:23

@Kap

They can however get bad credit

Which even though they can't be evicted. They could never rent again when this blows over.

Hoggleludo · 23/03/2020 12:25

Just wondering

If you take a rent break. For 3 month. When you go back. She wants £600 on top?

So surely instead of say £2000 per month. Which is £6000

She's wanting £600? Right.

jayritchie · 23/03/2020 12:32

Hi OP

£600 sounds excessive to me? Is she someone who appears dishonest. Try not to worry too much. Rent is really not a priority debt at the moment.

Xenia · 23/03/2020 12:34

I think the landlord could send them job ads for supermarket workers and expect them both to get a job working in a supermarket in the next ew days to tide them over or give them a job around the landlord's premises eg garden work, house painting and that kind of thing. No reason the landlord should have to subsidise that and risk going bankrupt.

Some landlords have no mortgage (so no mortgage holiday possible) and they rely on the rent for their food.

DianaT1969 · 23/03/2020 12:53

Xenia - by your argument, the landlord who relies on rent for her food should be applying to supermarkets for a job. Her income source dried up - just like the tenant's income did. No fault of their own.
Let's all be kind here.
The landlord isn't being asked to pay £600 in interest now. It will be repaid over a very long period. Unless she bought at an unlucky time, her equity in the property has grown. She has a significant asset. Her good tenants just had their income stream shut down abruptly and are trying to work out how to survive. The chancellor decided that £94 per week would cover all this.

Xenia · 23/03/2020 13:22

Not everyone's equity in a property has grown. I would guess my older children's properties are all worth less than they paid for them given recent falls in house prices for those who bought in recent years.

So I suppose the issue is should landlord or tenant go off to work in a supermarket. Some landlords are aged 70 and yes they have a state pension but not high enough to cover their costs particularly for women and they are probably less able to get the supermarket job than a 20 something so if it were a choice between those two I would say the young musicians need to work in a shop to pay the landlord her rent.

Teenangels · 23/03/2020 13:28

OP have you thought that maybe you LL could be struggling. They could have lost jobs, unfortunately homeowners do not get their housing costs paid for on UC.
Everyone that is saying the £600 in interest is a lot it’s not my interest works out at 5.36 per day..... and that’s not on a big mortgage.

Leninahux · 23/03/2020 13:41

If you are struggling financially the rent should be the last thing you pay. You can't be evicted right now and landlords who are struggling can get a mortgage holiday. If they own outright then they have the option of selling a valuable asset.

jayritchie · 23/03/2020 13:44

OP have you thought that maybe you LL could be struggling.

Lots of businesses - especially small businesses - are struggling at the moment. Should the OP be concerned, and borrow money from family with no clear way to repay to support all of them?

Surely landlords have a mix of investments if they are relying in investment income?

viccat · 23/03/2020 14:28

Why does everyone expect landlords, many who are individuals with just one property to rent out, to be able to take the hit when we're not having big companies suspend payments at all? What about your electricity, gas, water, phone and internet providers - are they giving you a payment holiday? Is your council giving a holiday from council tax? NO. But somehow an individual landlord is expected to manage it.

midwestspring · 23/03/2020 15:54

You have to pay your Landlords mortgage because you have agreed to rent the house.
In the same way you are agreed to pay your other bills.
In these extreme situations a lot of landlords will be more flexible because evicting you will be impossible at present and decent tenants are hard to find.
But the landlord has to pay her full mortgage amount plus extra interest, the bank doesn't just scratch those months of payment.
She may also be scared because if we enter a significant recession you may not be paying for months.

Xenia · 23/03/2020 16:20

Also if landlords allow tenants not to pay for 3 months before they evict them the tenant is building up a massive debt they will have hanging over them for the next 15 years and will have to pay back so it is probably kinder to help the tenant find full time work in a supermarket or driving a grocery delivery van and that kind of job.

DianaT1969 · 23/03/2020 16:45

Xenia - For some London rents, unfortunately minimum pay jobs don't cover the rent, council tax, utilities and food. This OP happens to be in a couple, so perhaps 2 combined minimum pay jobs, plus their savings will help in this case. But let's not pretend it's easy.
If a landlord takes a 3 month mortgage holiday and gives a free or lower cost rent holiday, he/she will be renting out the property for 3 more months at the end of the mortgage to cover it. Plus interest, which the tenants could pay back instead over a couple of months right now. It's a drop in the ocean to have your property occupied for 3 months longer than you expected at the end of a 15/25 year period.
This landlord deserves to have the tenant give 1 month notice and to struggle to get new tenants. She isn't talking to them rationally.

mumwon · 23/03/2020 18:02

there is another point -many Landlords rent out elderly parents property to PART pay parents care (& there is quite a few of them) because parent owns property they don't get state support - if the property is sold the money will only last a year or 2 & than you may have issues of having to move to the substandard choice (& I am really serious about this). So many loving families rent their parents property & top up to get their parent in good quality care (& before anyone says they should look after parent you don't know how complex their care is) These kind of places - start at more than £1000 a week. Or maybe they get mortgage & buy property to pay for care - same difference - you don't know individual landlords situation. As I stated the one thing government could do is at least allow LL to claim tax on the LL interest.

BonnesVacances · 23/03/2020 20:18

Everyone that is saying the £600 in interest is a lot it’s not my interest works out at 5.36 per day..... and that’s not on a big mortgage.

But your interest is worked out on a 15/20/25 year mortgage. Confused I still don't get it, sorry. How much is your monthly rent OP?

Original poster
Lostatsea1988 · 23/03/2020 23:30

Hi everyone sorry i've been head down applying for jobs today. Thanks for your replies.

First of all @Teenangels PISS OFF I have not asked for 3 months rent free, and no you haven't read the thread: i've asked i can hypothetically pause my rent for 3 months and catch up later in the year.

This is what she's sent me:

"Hi lostatsea

Thanks for your email and sorry to hear about your work.

We have been considering whether we could defer your rent so it is payable later in the year. However we could only afford to do this if our mortgage lender gave us a mortgage holiday. That is not certain, we would need to apply and I do not know what evidence the bank would need from you, X's father (guarantor) and from us to be eligible.

If we did get a mortgage holiday, this would come at a cost as the mortgage interest would continue during the mortgage holiday.
Assuming a mortgage holiday of 3 months, this would incur an additional cost of about 600 in interest which would be added to our mortgage. We would need to recoup that cost from you or from X's dad and so I'd encourage you to think whether there are any other options open to you (e.g. a family loan, housing benefit etc) before embarking on this path.

Essentially a mortgage / rent holiday will end up costing you more in the long run, so we are happy to look into this for you but it should be a last resort.

Give me a call if you want to chat.

OP posts:
snowballer · 23/03/2020 23:45

I think your LL is being unreasonable here. That £600 extra interest will be spread out over the life of the mortgage for her, not over three months. If she wants to be fair and directly link your rent to her mortgage (dubious anyway) she should be charging you her mortgage interest rate on your late rent. Which won't be more than a couple of percent, as opposed to the astronomical percentage she's actually going to charge you. If you were my tenants I'd suck it up - £600 over the life of the loan is peanuts, but the goodwill is worth far more in the long run.

AnyFucker · 24/03/2020 00:15

She sounds perfectly reasonable to me