COVID-19 has brought real pressures on tenants in the private rented sector with many tenants being put on furlough, being made redundant or having wages cut. For many tenants this may be the first time that they have ever got into rent arrears. And for landlords who may be finding it difficult to let empty properties that they own during the lockdown may also now, possibly for the first time, be seeing tenants in their properties with rent arrears.
This is a very difficult situation. Tenants will be understandably worried about how they can keep their home in the time of such uncertainty for them and their family. The government has done a lot to support workers, such as the furlough scheme and the support for the self-employed and many millions of tenants will be benefiting from this. But we know that in many cases this help , although very welcome, would not be enough to ensure that the rent can be paid in full.
We know from our contact with landlords that many have made significant steps to ease the financial pressure on the tenants. In many cases they've been working with tenants to encourage them to apply for Universal Credit and giving them advice about the various government financial support packages that are in place/ Landlords themselves have been taking advantage of the various government schemes that exist to assist them in this time of crisis.
Alongside this the government has put a curb on possession and eviction cases being heard in the courts although this is likely to be relaxed somewhat from 23 August. In some cases it is almost inevitable that some tenants who refuse to pay the rent or enter into some form of agreement with that landlords to pay off these areas over time will end up in the county court and potentially will be evicted.
This is where the TDS Resolution service comes in. We want to work with tenants and landlords to try to mediate a sensible rent arrears repayment plan which works for both tenants and landlords. There is no point tenants offering a rent repayment plan which is unrealistic and in the same vein landlords will need to think about the flexibility they could offer their tenants to stay in the property and hopefully make some contribution towards resolving the issue. In some cases landlords may be prepared to reduce the rent or write off some element of the arrears to enable their tenants to stay in the property.
Our job at TDS Resolution will be to work with both sides to come up with mutually satisfactory rent repayment agreement. In launching TDS Resolution we do not know whether or not this will be successful. But we do know but if we can save a single household from being evicted because we have helped to broker a deal between a landlord and a tenant, then this will be a fantastic achievement.
So we are calling out to all landlords who are keen to try to agree a rent repayment plan with their talents to please contact us at TDS Resolution. We will do all we can to help.
When the courts re-open In August there will be a big backlog of cases. But we know that the service we provide at TDS Resolution can make a difference in reducing the number of eviction cases that come forward to the county court.
To find out more please visit www.tdsresolution.com or get started now:
Author
Steve Harriott
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