Eviction protection for tenants is now running out. The exact date it ends varies by country. In England, it’s the 1st of June. Furthermore, the notice period will be reduced from six months to four. Theoretically, therefore, it’s back to “business as usual” for landlords and tenants. In practice, landlords may still have to move carefully. Here are a few points to consider.
Remember the law extends beyond COVID19 measures
If it’s been so long you can’t remember, here are the key points you need to keep in mind when dealing with any tenant.
You are responsible for keeping the property safe
There is no if, but or maybe about this. For as long as a tenant has legal possession of your property, you have to keep it safe and habitable. If a tenant is being difficult about granting you/your representatives access to your property, then it’s highly advisable to document all steps you take to resolve the situation.
It’s also advisable to contact your local authority. They may be able to help, especially if the issue could potentially have a negative impact on other properties. Realistically, however, the aim of contacting a local authority is generally just to make sure they know your side of the story. Otherwise, they might get a garbled version of events from other sources.
Any eviction proceedings must follow due process
Do not be tempted to take any shortcuts here, not even if they seem to be benign, for example, offering your tenant financial assistance to leave. Follow the process to the letter. It may be frustrating. It is, however, likely to be a whole lot less frustrating than the possible results of trying to work around the law.
Keep the Equality Act 2010 in mind
These days, it’s not just enough to avoid discrimination on the basis of protected criteria (direct or indirect). You need to be able to demonstrate that you have avoided discrimination on the basis of protected criteria. Effectively, this means that you don’t just need an audit trail of what you did but a log of why you did it. This will show that you use a legally-robust process to reach your decisions.
Lender forbearance also extends beyond COVID19 measures
A lot of the “COVID19 support measures” were essentially just variations on standard lender-forbearance requirements. In fact, the only real difference was that people could self-certify rather than having to go through a lender’s standard approval procedure. That is now ended and hopefully, it will not need to be brought back.
There is, however, still support for people who need it. That includes landlords who are struggling to make their mortgage payments for any reason. If the reason is due to a tenant not paying rent, then the lender would be expected to work with the landlord to come to an arrangement everyone can manage.
If you’re having issues with a tenant (or anything else), it’s advisable to contact your lender as early as possible. Remember, it’s in their interests to work cooperatively with you. Leaving aside the regulators, they have public opinion to think about, especially after 2008.
Landlord forbearance should also extend beyond COVID19 measures
Just because you can now evict your tenants, it doesn’t mean that you should. If a tenant is generally “low-maintenance”, then it may be in your best interests to give them some breathing space to get back on their feet.
After all, if you evict them, then not only will you have the eviction expense but you could also have a void period. What’s more, there’s no guarantee that any future tenant will be an improvement on the current one, at least not over the long term.
The reality is that the UK economy is probably going to need some time to recover from the pandemic (and Brexit). Until then, any tenant could potentially struggle for a while. In most cases, learning to work with this will prove better than resorting to evictions.
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