Landlords in England have condemned the government’s COVID-19 ban and the expansion of the government, saying it does not take into account how homeowners themselves could fall victim to the pandemic’s economic fallout .
“Not all landlords are wealthy, some have lost their jobs and many rely on rent as their main source of income,” says a specialist in eviction and housing law, after a ban on evictions in England was extended by another four weeks, with one retiree relying on hair as her main form of income and saying she felt she was the “victim”.
A ban on evictions has been in place since March to prevent a sudden increase in private tenants from becoming homeless, as the economy was quietly bought during COVID-19. The UK government has announced an extension of the ban which would expire on 23 August, following a similar decision in Wales and longer extensions in both Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs because of COVID-19, with those claiming that government benefits increase the standard rate by six times to six million.
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However, landlords say they have not been given enough protection and some feel that they are being held hostage by tenants.
Half a million people are at risk of dismissal and homelessness, according to charities and councils, the government may have extended the ban on evictions, but given there is already a backlog of 40,000 cases that could take a year for provincial courts to deal with , how long could the current situation continue?
One of the worries and worries about the future is 76-year-old Susan *, who relies on her hair and pension to cover her living expenses while caring for her 78-year-old husband.
Susan says she has not received a full month’s rent from any of her tenants since last November.
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‘It has been a nightmare, she [the tenant] would have been on March 9, she is still there and has not been paid rent since last November, all we had were £ 200 and £ 100 in separate payments. “
She has received full hair from her other three tenants in the property.
Susan feels that the current ban on evictions is being abused by some and says that her tenant’s anti-social behavior, which she says is “horrible” to her neighbors, is something she can no longer deal with.
“I think we are victims,” she says.
“She gets her hair from benefits, so she should have it, it was new when she settled down.
“There has been anti-social behavior, broken wardrobes. She’s hanging out with neighbors, it’s horrible. We owed £ 3,400 two weeks ago and she’s probably more guilty.”
Susan feels that the government has completely abandoned people like her.
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“We can no longer blame her, the anti-social behavior, she’s throwing rubbish out the window, it’s coming in front of the house, one of the other tenants is left to pick it all up, she’s scared the children next door. “
Neither Susan nor her husband have visited the property since February, after police warned her that for her own safety it was better if her son collected the hair.
Paul Shamplina, the founder of Landlord Action, a lobby group for property owners specializing in property rights, Newsweek that many of his clients are not great owners or think as well as many, and call it a “misunderstanding.”
“‘Landlord’ is becoming a dirty word and it should not be,” he says Newsweek.
“We have encouraged landlords throughout the pandemic to work with your tenants, review payment plans and try to maintain the tenant.
“But most landlords have only one or two properties, and they are not big real estate companies and they are fighting, their business is struggling and there is a perception that all landlords have a lot of money and they are rich and that is not real. the case. “
The group currently has 550 eviction cases pending in the court system dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic yet to be resolved. That extends to a backlog of 40,000 total cases in England, the BBC has reported, as the courts were paused during the entire lockdown.
There are fears that courts will not be able to circumvent if a sudden increase in notices of eviction occurs when the ban on eviction ends.
If only readers are at risk of eviction, Newsweek wants to tell your story. Email [email protected].
There are an estimated 2.66 million landlords in Britain with 4.5 million households in England living in rented accommodation.
Homeless charity Shelter said that at the end of June, about 174,000 tenants were warned by their landlord that they were facing eviction.
It also estimates that a quarter of a million tenants were behind on their hair in the same period.
The Network Council’s Network, a cross-party network of 187 councils in the UK, has also warned of a “cliff-edge” scenario.
The network warned that nearly half a million people who spend more than half of their income on hair could be at risk of eviction if the ban ends this week. Among the most vulnerable were single parents and 16- to 24-year-olds.
Shamplina believes that the underlying cause of homelessness for those from vulnerable groups is the lack of social housing.
“Landlords rely on rent for their own income, pensions do not pay. Some of them became casual tenants, some of them had some money and put it in ownership to try to bring in some rent,” he says.
“There are 170 rules and regulations that landlords must follow, many of them are not compiled or understand it. The biggest criticism of landlords I have is that they have to treat it like a business and be more professional , many of them fall short of regulation.
“They rely on the hair as an income and to pay off their mortgage, the government … encouraged landlords to go and ask their mortgage companies if they can get a proposal.
“The problem is, when you ask mortgage lenders for a down payment on your mortgage, it goes against your credit rating, so some landlords don’t ask for it.
“Landlords rely on that income, especially when they are older and their retirees, everyone is fighting for survival and of course landlords have lost their jobs, they are also overwhelmed.”
So what is the long-term solution to a problem that might not just disappear with a simple extension of the ban?
Shamplina says an initiative similar to the one launched in Wales, where a tenant-owner loan scheme was set up, could be beneficial.
The £ 8m tenant savings loan scheme is for private sector tenants who are not on benefits, with the government hoping it will stop an increase in homelessness.
Once a tenant’s application for a loan is accepted, the money is paid directly to the landlord as an agent and tenants can repay the amount over five years.
Balbir Chatrik, director of policy at homeless charity Centrepoint wants the government to strengthen the social security system and offer more loans to tenants and landlords.
He said: “The particular concern for us is that young people, albeit the most economically severe hit, will struggle to navigate the eviction process and find alternative accommodation. Delays and evictions are costly and a failure to support them during the shake-up. pandemic risks them with debt and, in some cases, homelessness for years to come. “
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment
* Names have been changed upon request to protect tenant and landlord identities
