A county council and the local Citizens Advice service are asking private landlords in their area to reach out to tenants to check they are managing.
Wiltshire council and the local CA are contacting landlords to explain that those who are privately renting may be facing a reduction in their income or difficulty with budgeting - they should not suffer in silence, the two organisations suggest.
“Landlords are being reminded of the latest government advice and urged to make contact with their tenants who may be experiencing difficulties and direct them to help if appropriate” says a council statement.
Currently no eviction notices can be served until January 11 and given the 14-day notice period required, no evictions are expected to be enforced until January 25 at the earliest, unless in very exception circumstances.
The letter to landlords also contains details about their responsibilities as landlords, the Green Homes Grant scheme, and where they can access help if they require it.
Deputy council leader Richard Clewer says: "We know there will be people out there who are at risk of or have lost their jobs or are finding their circumstances very different due to Covid or indeed other factors.
"We understand it is easy to get into a downward spiral, feel overwhelmed and not ask for help. We wanted to let you know that help is out there and we're asking people to reach out and access it so they can move forward and be supported. People should be assured that they won't be judged in any way. The main priority is to provide help and ease that heavy burden of worry that could be keeping them awake at night.
"We also encourage landlords to be up to date with the latest advice and approach tenants if they are concerned about their ability to keep up their rent payments rent to avoid problems further down the line."
And Suzanne Wigmore, the chief executive of Wiltshire Citizens Advice, adds: "If you are a tenant struggling to pay rent or a landlord who has tenants who are struggling to pay, please do get in touch with us for advice. There are many ways that we can help with rental payments including access to welfare benefits, discretionary funds, and support with debt advice.”
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And just tell me why Landlords have to reach out?
All we are doing is trying to run, in the main, a small business.
I suggest they start asking Multi Million businesses to pay extra taxes to fund the current problem.
They will not miss I will...Landlords will.
You see this is where the issue is. We are landlords. Our role is clearly defined and so is a tenants. We make sure houses are in good order and they pay the rent. Any issues with payment is down to the tenant to sort via their relatives or benefit system.
I didn’t come into this to sit down with tenants and sort their finances out
Checking the full rent is in my account on time is the only check I want to make.
I already pay Government and Councils enough to do any good work needing done so don't see the need to duplicate this effort.
Interesting responses above. You are completely agreeing to people living in properties which you own. Yet you are suggesting you are completely uninterested in their welfare once they are in - because everyone else can help - e.g. government, councils, their relatives - just not you. So if a tenant loses their job due to pandemic, or gets cancer, or has a road accident, or is a victim of crime, etc. etc. etc. - you're just not interested, it's always for someone else. Oh dear. What a lovely society we live in.
That's right, David Wirth, the responses above suggest we are completely uninterested in our tenants welfare - and I agree with these responses too. Tenants can turn to the government, the council and their relatives for support - that's what they're there for.
However, the support that I do offer my tenants (and I'm sure most of the LLs on here do too) is that my tenants don't have anything to worry about with regards to the property they're living in - that's my problem. If anything, absolutely anything, goes wrong while they're living there, I fix it. That's a pretty big weight off their shoulders, if you ask me.
Why don't you look at it from the LLs point of view, just for once? You're always so against us LLs. Cheer up. It is a lovely society we live in. My tenants love me.
@ Daniela, my tenants love me as well, we get on very well, but you see past experience has taught me to steer clear of the lowlife tenants, what ever the sob story they spin , being a landlord has toughened me up a lot over the years having been taken advantage of and stabbed in the back many a time.
Would you expect a tenant to reach out to a landlord that was, say, hospitalised or struggling for money? It could quite conceivably be the case that the tenant is the financially ‘better off party’ (not that that should matter in either direction). I’m just curious as to your thought-process and why it’s seemingly only one way.
We pay taxes for the Welfare State. Do you want us to pay twice?
When I started my journey in the property sector, my first manager taught me a very important lesson i.e. “property is all about people”. And in my experience, this is so true; it’s about landlords & tenants & service providers, and if we can be pleasant and kind to each other in our interactions, then things tend to go much more smoothly.
From a totally different angle, regardless of a landlord’s relationship with their tenant, the Court now requires the landlord to demonstrate that they have taken steps to understand, accommodate & work out a solution when a tenant’s circumstances change unexpectedly and they can’t pay all or some of their rent.
Those who take a hard line, may well find that the Court rules in the tenant’s favour when it comes to an application for possession.
Regardless of the various opinions voiced here, that’s just how it is. 🤓
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