Tenant asking for covid rent reduction, WWYD

[psychedelephant]

My tenants have asked if I could reduce the rent due to cv and I've said I'm happy to work something out. Wondering what other landlords are doing.
I suggested they do a financial statement, look at the benefits calculator and work out what they can afford but they keep bouncing it back to me.

No evidence/explanation/working with you = no rent reduction.

If they’re genuinely struggling then they’ll understand they have to work with you and show at least basic evidence of furlough etc

Not really got much advice to add as our tenant is still on full pay but just a wee thought there, you might find that they're prioritising paying their other bills as if they are trying to buy a house they won't want these missed bills on their credit score whereas with a reduced rent to you this wouldn't show on a credit search presumably so that could be a possible reason why.

I do agree though that they should be providing you with an amount. I am SE and currently closed but doing everything I can to make sure all bills are still paid x

Rebel I did wonder about that sort of thing, that there will be some people who will think there will be no consequences because of the current crisis. I'm sorry to read that about your mum, it all sounds a bit chaotic. Will they not be evicted? My understanding is that the process is being stretched out a bit but if you willfully withold rent without showing you've attempted to arrange repayment, I can't see that working out well.

JK Blackbird I used to work with vulnerable people and I'm not at all unsympathetic to someone who's struggling. I manage my own property because the agents I used to use were relentless about raising rent, and the income from the flat is modest. The tenants are not asking to pay in arrears, they want a reduction in rent so they can pay their other bills in full.

In an ideal world we would live rent-free and bill-free but my tenants have bills to pay and sadly so do I.

littlenicky (that was my mum's dog's name!) yes, that's a possibility.

Louise this is my theory, that they don't want their credit ruined. The thing is, there are so many people who will be asking for some leeway with utilities, council tax etc it seems like everyone can't be penalised - ?

I've written an email asking for details and some kind of documentation. I need to know more about UC really. If this is just a cashflow problem I don't mind some payment in arrears, but if I don't have a picture of how they're affected I can't know if it's realistic to expect them to be able to pay it. Tbh it was the statement that they intend to pay all the other bills in full and on time that got my back up a bit.

I appreciate all the feedback and it's been helpful getting an idea of what others are doing, both tenants and landlords.

We have 6 BTL and only one tenant asked to reduce rent as had caught Covid. I posted him some paracetamol and told him to pay what he could and catch up the shortfall when he returned to work. His partner was still working. He then got furloughed but they caught up rent shortfall following month. He was only I'll for about a week. Other tenants still paying as normal ATM and as 3 mortgages on trackers our mortgages are now lower. Allow them to pay less is affected but tell them they will have to catch back up asap.

@psychedelephant chances are if they phoned them and spoke to them then no their credit score wouldn't be affected, I would imagine it would only be if they just never paid, but sounds like they haven't actually phoned any of them to ask so they probably don't know that, they've maybe just assumed that it would.

Hope they provide you with everything you need so you can come to some sort of agreement. I think it's great you're willing to help them out if they are genuinely struggling.

My partner is on furlough and got a letter from his employer saying this, I believe legally they have to give one so if that's the case for them they should be able to forward you that.

Speaking as an ex tenant I'd keep bouncing it back to you too.

At the end of the day the wish to know what you would be happy to do. If they say to you we can only afford ... I'd be worried that you would try and get rid of us at the earliest opportunity.

If I were you I'd work out with your partner what you could afford to do and say to them we would be willing to reduce this much per month until such a date.

Also do you have a managing agent? If so I wouldn't be sending any statements or documentation to you as to be honest I wouldn't want you knowing what my bank accounts were like. For example you could say well you spent x amount on ... so you can afford to pay me when you wouldn't necessarily know the full circumstances.

@grumpyorange they wouldn't need to provide bank statements though, but if they've been put on furlough/made redundant etc then they would have a letter from their employer confirming this. I agree I wouldn't feel comfortable with that either but by forwarding a letter from the employer it still shows that their income has been affected without needing to show what their money is being spent on etc as that is their private business

The tenant is under no obligation to give back statements to the landlord.

They do have an obligation to pay rent though or provide reasonable proof as to why they can't. In this case it seems possible (probable even?) that they don't want to give proof because they may have been turned down for benefits due to savings. Savings which they should be using to meet their financial obligations. It's shit of course but dipping into savings is sometimes necessary. Covid isn't a good enough reason not to.