Landlord update during COVID19 – Worried?
Can you believe that we are already nearly six months down the road since the beginning of lockdown due to COVID19?
From not being allowed out, to being furloughed (or worse losing jobs), to daily news bulletins etc etc, we are all now settling into the new ‘normal’ but as a landlord there will be many things that are concerning you or impacting you as a direct result of Covid.
Some important issues that you should be aware of as a landlord are the following announcements from Government:-
- Emergency legislation has increased notice periods to 6 months until at least the end of March 2021
- Evictions will not be enforced in local lockdown areas and there will be a truce on enforcement over Christmas
- £180 million of government funding for Discretionary Housing Payments available for local authorities to support vulnerable renters this year.
Read HERE for full Government detail.
There are ongoing campaigns from various MPs and of course our industry bodies are all keeping in touch with Government on our behalf to demonstrate the position of Landlords as well as Tenants; the simple message that we have at Stuarts is that non payment of rent directly affects ourselves as well as landlords RELYING on the income from their investment properties. Our commitment all through Covid19 has been to be sympathetic but more importantly to guide tenants as to where they can obtain help and lots of communications have gone to tenants to assist. Just earlier this week we have shown tenants that there is a new Discretionary Housing Payments available should they need it and we believe this to be helpful in guiding the tenants, but also to ensure that we work with them to ensure rent payments are made to you, the landlord which is our priority.
Full Management clients have the benefit of our software which continually is monitored to ensure rents are paid and we are proactive with any potential prolems etc and we hope you have found our services to be additionally beneficial to you both with keeping in touch with you throughout the pandemic but also in securing rent payments for you.
Letting only clients – WE HAVE VACANCIES for let only clients to upgrade to Full Management service, and vacancies for new clients too. You should seriously consider coming to us to manage your property with the knowledge that we are overseeing all aspects of property management including rent payments on your behalf no matter what the current situation in our lives.
A comment from a client who upgraded from Letting Only to Full Management service just yesterday said
“I really appreciate everything you do, its the best decision I made coming onto Full Management, the BEST decision.”
She went on to say that she is also seeing an INCREASE in her income over the year, whilst she pays management fee, she knows that everything is covered but also that Stuarts are managing annual rent increases which she wasnt doing when managing herself, and that Stuarts deal with property repairs more cost effectively than she did whilst managing herself as tenants now have to go through Stuarts instead of playing on her heart strings and demanding work is done. *** RING NOW to discuss your requirements ***