Thousands of renters could be evicted in June (including the key workers being clapped for every Thursday night!)

[HeIenaDove]

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/08/renters-evicted-june-tories-pledge-coronavirus-landlords?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR0nPQ-wVVrlowha9KgZIlrX2VeoYVXKTAN7pJkp2QfFtrFP3_yCGzp93to

Thousands of renters could be evicted in June. Will the government protect them?
David Renton
The coronavirus-related freeze on evictions is ending – and the new ‘pre-action protocol’ relies on the kindness of landlords

When the lockdown ends what will happen to tenants? Almost nine million households, more than a third of all families in Britain, rent from a private landlord, a council or a housing association.

Because of coronavirus, many are now in financial need. Nearly two million claims for universal credit have been made since lockdown measures were announced in the UK. Welfare claimants are entitled to payments equivalent to housing benefit. But, as a result of changes made to benefits over the last decade (like the bedroom tax and restrictions to local housing allowance), it is increasingly rare for housing benefit to pay all of a tenant’s rent.

Others, although ineligible for universal credit, are also in difficulty: because they have received a redundancy cheque that will soon be spent, or their self-employed grant hasn’t arrived yet. Then there are furloughed workers, paid now, but waiting for news of redundancies from their employer.

Right now, all possession hearings – the main step in evicting a tenant – are “stayed”. This is the legal equivalent of putting food in a freezer. The cases are still there, ready to be thawed out at any moment.

Where a tenant is behind with their rent, landlords can issue them with a notice instructing them to leave, but (for the moment) the tenant can ignore it. On 25 June the housing courts will reopen for business. Judges will have to determine thousands of stayed pre-coronavirus cases, and the even greater number of new claims for possession arising from the lockdown

Ministers have grasped that hundreds of thousands of homes are at risk. Earlier this week the housing minister, Robert Jenrick, announced that the government was working closely with judges to draft a “pre-action protocol” for when the stay is lifted.

He told MPs that the protocol will “enable tenants to have an added degree of protection, because instead of embarking upon the eviction proceedings immediately, there will be a duty upon their landlords to reach out to them, discuss their situation, and try to find an affordable repayment plan”.

The problem with the protocol is that it is toothless – essentially depending on the benevolence of landlords.

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The two most common ways landlords seek possession are under “section 21” and “ground 8”. Section 21 provides that where a landlord has complied with certain procedural requirements (like issuing a notice using the correct form and waiting for a prescribed time before applying to court) the court must order

possession
The statute does not require a landlord to have complied with the government’s proposed pre-action protocol. For that reason, even where landlords have rushed to issue proceedings, and have ignored requests from tenants to defer payments for a short time, judges will be required to approve evictions.

Ground 8 provides that where a tenant is in rent arrears (eight weeks if the rent is due weekly), both when the landlord serves a notice on them and when the hearing takes place, the court must order possession.

Again, the court takes no account of the landlord’s conduct; it focuses simply on the amount of the tenant’s arrears. In these circumstances, if the new protocol is as the minister describes it, it will not protect tenants at all.

There are alternatives. In last year’s general election, the Conservatives committed to abolish section 21 as part of their “better deal for renters”. The government reaffirmed that commitment in the Queen’s speech, announcing a renters’ reform bill to include the abolition of section 21. They should be held to that promise. As for ground 8, it too needs to be abolished. Or, if that is impossible, rescinded for such time until tenants have had a chance to reduce their debts once they’re able to go back to work.

Abolishing or rescinding ground 8 would not prevent landlords relying on other grounds of possession. But, without it in place, judges will be free to order possession only if reasonable – thereby giving effect to the tenant defences the government says that it wants in place. One further advantage of abolishing ground 8 is that courts can turn to other possession proceedings in which possession orders are made but suspended, while tenants are given the chance to repay arrears to a realistic plan.

Muddling on without the abolition of section 21 and ground 8 will lead to millions of people forced out of their homes. It will send those evicted scattering – some to stay with elderly relatives, some into local authority housing (although it is at breaking point) and many into homelessness.

The government accepts that street homelessness speeds the transmission of coronavirus: this is the grim calculation that underpins the government’s granting of resources to councils to house rough sleepers. Drifting into a future where huge numbers of people lose their homes needlessly would be just as dangerous – for those who are evicted, and for everyone else.

• David Renton is a housing barrister at Garden Court Chambers

I bought my rental property using an unexpected inheritance, as that was what my lovely relative wanted me to do with it. I got an HMO, so not taking a house away from a family that could have potentially bought it. I increased the mortgage on my own house in order to refurbish it and replace all the furniture and white goods, to the point that it's much nice than my own home! The tenants pay £100 a week each for an en suite room, including all their bills, and pre COVID a fortnightly cleaner. After 5 years I'm still yet to actually turn a profit, but the long term plan is for the income to supplement my pension.
With one tenant not paying at all, and all of them home all day, the utility bills have doubled. If it gets to the point where I can't afford to keep it going for them, I either have to sell the rental property, in which case it will most likely be bought by someone who's less of a soft touch than I am, or I sell my own home, but then where do I live? I'd still have to kick one of the tenants out to move into that house!

@Stellaris22

I’ve been the penniless tenant relaying on tax credits with 2 young DC and a student loan to see me through. Renting houses for years wishing I could own them then at least the money I was paying wasn’t lining someone else’s pockets. I know it feels shit.

My financial situation has now changed for the better. I now realise that owning a property does have pit falls though, such as job loss in the current climate. There’s no financial help in the same way as there are for tenants. No one to call when something goes wrong.

I do own my house and a 2 bed property but the ceiling almost caved in last week due to a leak upstairs maisonette. I’ve got to pay for the electrician, plumber, painter, plasterer to come and fix it all and hope the insurance will pay me back. It’s certainly not my fault but I have a suspicion I’ll have to foot the bill. It’s a joke. My job isn’t secure so if I lose my job then I lose my home as will my children and the tenant will lose his.

I certainly am not loaded. If i hear of another leak it will be going on the market because I’ve not got the bother to deal with it for the sake of £50 a month.

So not all tenants are money grabbing arseholes- honestly.

I mean LL not tenants 🙈

I have family members who own a few rental properties. They are good landlords, but several times over the years they have had difficulty with tenants who don't pay rent. I watched it slacked jawed, and thought it all seemed more trouble than it was worth.....

Okay, so in my manifesto would e a bit of a shake up of private rentals. Let's say, for instance, you owned a house and the private rental market was £1000 a month - you would be responsible for all upkeep and repairs, though, and who knows if your tenants turn out to not pay the rent, or trash your house, and that will cost you.

But how about, you could rent your property to a housing association. It would be for less than what you would get private rental - say, only £700 a month - but the HA take on all the risk, all the repairs and upkeep, deal with the tenants, and when you want the property back they return it yo you in exactly the same condition - it's absolutely guaranteed income with no liability, you still have your investment but the HA get more stock without actually having to buy any properties - any BTL landlords find that appealing?

Rabbitwomam you do realise that letting agents offer similar guarantees to LLs, for a fee of course.

Ya, but it's social housing at affordable rents we have a massive shortage of, isn't it?

I work for an HA and these kinds of articles make me sigh. An HA is not allowed to evict a tenant without lengthy and comprehensive work to try to resolve outstanding debts. The process has to go through a court, so it's decided by a neutral party, not just at the whim of the HA. And usually it's after years of payment plans and debt where the tenant is clearly not trying to clear any of it despite receiving benefits/an income.

I'd also say that lots of renters have unwisely taken the 3 month rent holiday as a 'get out of jail free' card and despite still receiving benefits/their normal income, are not paying their rent, without thinking of the consequences. i.e. the rent wasn't written off - it will be tacked onto future rent bills.

"id also say" or have you actually seen this.

Spot on Tale.

Even with affordable rent, tenants will get most of it if not all paid by the Local Housing Allowance in UC or HB. I don't believe a tenant of social housing would be evicted purely to get AR. HA's very rarely use mandatory eviction grounds so a judge is the final decider. Social tenants are given SO (too?) many chances to sort their debts out before that stage and often even after they've gone to court.

Anyway, I thought the key workers being evicted were due to Corona fears not unpaid rent since they are still working as pp pointed out?

Those of you with a BTL property... can you say why you bought it? it was my house before I relocated across country to a cheaper area. Wasn’t sure how long I would stay there for so rented it out and rented where I am. Prices here much cheaper so could afford to use rent to buy a house here which when/if I go back I could rent or sell. Luck really but can see both sides to this. At the end of the day, LL need a cushion of profit for comfort if the unexpected comes up and tenants need to feel secure in their homes unless either one takes the piss. In that case, all bets are off. Have rented to same person for the whole of the 5 years and could see this situation happening before Xmas so tried to be a little prepared. I think an issue may be where LL have such little profit margin there’s no safety net there. To go down a different road, why on a mainly female forum with mainly women talking about their experiences, are so many talking about landLORDS rather than landLADIES?

I currently rent a small flat out, I lived in it myself for several years before moving into DHs place, and didn't want to sell it straight away. I probably will now, I don't think the hassle is worth it. I charge below what everyone else in the block does, the tenant is nice enough, the odd issue over the years but nothing too major. She hasn't paid rent since this started even though she is working full time on full pay still, because she said she doesn't think it's fair as a lot of other people aren't having to pay, and she shouldn't be published for still being in work. I know a lot of tenants aren't like that, and if someone was actually struggling I would do what I could, but over the years it's left me out of pocket anyway. It will be going on the market asap, I just wish I'd sold when it was bouyant!

Again - another reason why the government needs to start building council housing and should never have depleted its existing stock. What did they think would happen? Everyone would become homeowners?

I'm all for (obviously) getting rid of slum landlords and conditions but it appears the government is trying to have its cake and eat it by not building proper social housing and passing responsibility onto private landlords who are essentially in this to make a profit not to provide social housing.

Council housing protects the tenant from unfair rent increases and ensures that property is safe.

Great concept. We need to rebuild

Sadly just the very very beginning. A great depression isn't going to look pretty.

May not be a bad thing in the long run if it brings reforms of the sector for both. IDK how it works in other European countries but I have the impression there are more secure tenancies and lower rents. If that’s right, how is that achieved and could we use that model here?

I’m in a similar position to wellhiyahun, I relocated and my rented property is my ex-home, I want to sell but it’s been easier to rent out as I can’t afford it empty whilst waiting for a buyer in a slow market. My tenants have been paying half rent since CV and have asked to vacate before the end of their tenancy agreement. Under their contract they are liable for the rent until the end of their contract if I can’t let it but I’ve waived that. I’m just grateful they’ve given me some notice and kept a dialogue going. I’ll need to take a mortgage holiday if I don’t get a new tenant within a couple of months.

@fia101- Quite right. This was a disaster waiting to happen in so many ways. What on earth was supposed to happen to all the private renters when they reached retirement age? All the taxpayer’s money which has been gobbled up by housing benefits would have been better spent on building good sustainable housing. Much of the post war housing stock was sold off to a few lucky council tenants for a fraction of their worth, never to be replaced.

Me and my brother inherited my parents house when they died, we sold it, split it so ended up with £55k each so we bought a house with a mortgage to live in and rent the hose we were living in out ( mortgaged) we rent that house out for £600 a month and mortgage is approx £595 a month so we are not making a profit. Yes, we would like to think it will be our pension for the future.
Does that make us greedy landlords? Why should our tenant not pay us anything and be the one benefitting from not paying us anything since December because she knows the system and knows it’s all in her favour ? We won’t see a penny from her, and when she does leave she will most probably do the same to another ‘greedy’ landlord.

metro.co.uk/2020/05/15/landlord-hikes-rent-nhs-workers-tells-move-dont-accept-12703584/?ito=social&fbclid=IwAR2t8ctzLIia7E1yRcJiKJrxr-JXsLFL4U0PbqLiwW9YK7_HCjOaxoCnuE4?ito=cbshare#metro-comments-container

Landlord hikes rent for NHS workers and tells them to move out if they don’t accept it.

"Frontline workers living in discounted homes feel ‘unappreciated’ after their housing association said it is raising the rent in less than a month, despite the coronavirus lockdown. Residents at the block of flats in Brixton, south London, feel like they’ve been put in a tight spot by Notting Hill Genesis, who have told them to sign the agreement or move out by June 1. While the Government has made moves to re-open Britain’s housing market, many are still worried about the practicalities of finding a new place as they work harder than ever through the Covid-19 crisis. Sexual health adviser Lucy Barrow, 34, shares a one bedroom flat with her furloughed husband and four-year-old daughter. She says the family can just about afford £860 per month, but she’s worried about falling into debt after being asked to pay an extra £90. She told Metro.co.uk: ‘As you can imagine trying to find a property right now is difficult. Me trying to get time off to look at properties or even to get a removal van to our road is not possible. Everybody’s rent is going up on June 1, it’s the middle of lockdown, what are we supposed to do? You either sign it or you have to leave with nowhere to go
Lucy, who works at an NHS clinic in Southwark, central London, said tenants in her block are charged 80% of the area’s market rent as part of an initiative to help emergency workers live in more pricey parts of the capital. The letter from Notting Hill Genesis was dated May 5, but the mum-of-one says she only received it on Wednesday. Visit our live blog for the latest updates: Coronavirus news live Tenants at Brixton Water Lane are set to be charged an extra £120 a month for a two bedroom flat and £150 for a three bedroom property. The Housing Association say they are upping the rent in line with the area’s increased prices.
Lucy said: ‘It’s really unfair at this time that we are stressed and they haven’t even thought “maybe this could wait a month”. My husband is furloughed at the moment so we are budgeting our money. ‘You know what we are going through right now, just having to be in work and having to cope with everything that’s happening and then you just throw this at us. We’ve got a daughter, she’s four, we do want to consider looking at bigger properties, we are all in a one bedroom flat as that’s all we can afford right now. ‘The timing of it is inconsiderate. It feels like we are not being appreciated for the work we are doing as key workers, I feel like it could have been delayed for a couple of months.’ However Notting Hill Genesis does encourage tenants who worry about covering their rent to speak to their housing officer. Its letter says: ‘We can sign post you to a variety of agencies that can assist you with budgeting, debt and financial advice as well as referring you to an in house Welfare Benefits Advisor

We know that many residents will be struggling financially as a result of the current crisis and worrying about how to make ends meet. We want to assure you that we will not be taking tenancy enforcement action if your arrears have escalated due to the impact of Covid-19. ‘If you are not covering your rent we need you to get in touch so that we can understand your circumstances and set up an affordable payment arrangement.’ But Lucy, who was born and raised in Brixton, still has concerns about how falling into arrears could affect her family’s future. She added: ‘It’s just not good for your credit in terms of finding somewhere in the future.’ A Notting Hill Genesis spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: The properties at Brixton Water Lane are intermediate market rent (IMR) homes let at 80% of market rates, rather than being part of our social housing stock"

twitter.com/1917paul/status/1262336558780293120?s=20

Paul Kershaw
@1917paul
·
4h
Notting Hill Genesis at it again! Last week we heard they were hiking rent for NHS workers from June 1st & telling them to get out or pay. Giant housing associations like them increasingly run as profit seeking property empires. #socialhousing #ukhousing #COVID19
@HAWRNet

twitter.com/GenesisHAaction/status/1262334852134813697?s=20

Genesis Residents
@GenesisHAaction
Replying to
@1917paul
and
@HAWRNet
Residents of #NHG received emails today requesting arrears be paid within 7 days despite loss of incomes etc #COVID19 #socialhousing