Is there any help for tenants in these to ugh times?

n1guy

hallmark said:

That's highly unlikely to be correct.  There is no way that "3 months" won't become at least a year.   He's pulled the rug from under landlords by taking away their only means of dealing with non-payment of rent, whilst putting nothing in place to protect them.  A "mortgage holiday" won't help any landlord without a mortgage, and even for those who do, it's still a legally enforceable and easily recoverable (by the bank) debt.  The landlord has to pay eventually or be repossessed.  The tenants on the other hand, may now choose to simply stop paying rent and there's basically nothing any landlord can do about it.  If this "3 months" is extended say to a year, lots of tenants will live rentfree for that time and at the end of it all the landlords will be able to do is chase the debt via the courts & probably write off most of it.
Horrendous idea that basically assumes landlords are all scumbags who would evict their tenants unless they're legally prevented from doing so.   By taking away the incentive to pay (the nuclear deterrant if you like) the Govt has hamstrung landlords here.   Vote Boris get Corbyn.

We won’t agree but this is very much a them vs us. So are you saying landlords wouldn’t have evicted a load of tenants for non payment?

n1guy

Bossypants said:

^ They move on but with a CCJ in tow, which restricts their ability to rent or get a mortgage in the future. Same for well-intentioned tenants who want to pay back the rent owed, but simply can't afford to make up the difference when they're coming off three months (or more) without a paycheck. This idea helps literally no one.

I agree helps no one. The only solution is to help tenants pay their rent. So throw money at it but they don’t seem interested in this idea. 

Takmon

n1guy said:

Bossypants said:

^ They move on but with a CCJ in tow, which restricts their ability to rent or get a mortgage in the future. Same for well-intentioned tenants who want to pay back the rent owed, but simply can't afford to make up the difference when they're coming off three months (or more) without a paycheck. This idea helps literally no one.

I agree helps no one. The only solution is to help tenants pay their rent. So throw money at it but they don’t seem interested in this idea. 

Hopefully this current situation will make people realise how financially unprepared they actually are and how important it is to manage their money and build up some emergency funds for exactly these kinds of situations. It's been standard advice on here for as long as i have known to have at least 3 months expenses in savings yet so many people seem to have ignored this and now have financially worry to deal with on top of everything else!. 

hallmark

n1guy said:

hallmark said:

That's highly unlikely to be correct.  There is no way that "3 months" won't become at least a year.   He's pulled the rug from under landlords by taking away their only means of dealing with non-payment of rent, whilst putting nothing in place to protect them.  A "mortgage holiday" won't help any landlord without a mortgage, and even for those who do, it's still a legally enforceable and easily recoverable (by the bank) debt.  The landlord has to pay eventually or be repossessed.  The tenants on the other hand, may now choose to simply stop paying rent and there's basically nothing any landlord can do about it.  If this "3 months" is extended say to a year, lots of tenants will live rentfree for that time and at the end of it all the landlords will be able to do is chase the debt via the courts & probably write off most of it.
Horrendous idea that basically assumes landlords are all scumbags who would evict their tenants unless they're legally prevented from doing so.   By taking away the incentive to pay (the nuclear deterrant if you like) the Govt has hamstrung landlords here.   Vote Boris get Corbyn.

We won’t agree but this is very much a them vs us. So are you saying landlords wouldn’t have evicted a load of tenants for non payment?

No & no.  It's not them vs us, it's a business transaction.  A landlord is just a (small) business & the property is their product. It's entirely appropriate that they have a legally enforceable way of receiving payment for it.

If the Govt wanted to prevent evictions during the crisis (and I think most people would agree it should) there's already a mechanism for this: Housing benefit.  The Govt could have simply said "housing benefit qualification standards will be eased/eliminated, anybody who can't pay their rent due to the current crisis is now eligible to claim the full amount of their rent as a benefit.  THAT would have been fair and appropriate.

Instead they've simply passed the entire burden onto landlords.  A direct analogy would be if they told the supermarkets that from now on we're all allowed to take their product without paying and they're not allowed to do anything about it if we do.  You won't see them doing that or anything similar to ANY other business anytime soon.  Likewise you won't be allowed to stop paying income tax, VAT, your TV licence or any other way the Govt takes money off you.

The reason they're doing this is that landlords, unlike (for example) supermarkets, do not have a strong lobby and do not have an army of expensive lawyers.   Also, it's a politically winning strategy to screw over landlords.  It's immoral and a betrayal of supposed conservative values, but neither of those things are a requirement to be a Tory MP.

n1guy

Takmon said:

n1guy said:

Bossypants said:

^ They move on but with a CCJ in tow, which restricts their ability to rent or get a mortgage in the future. Same for well-intentioned tenants who want to pay back the rent owed, but simply can't afford to make up the difference when they're coming off three months (or more) without a paycheck. This idea helps literally no one.

I agree helps no one. The only solution is to help tenants pay their rent. So throw money at it but they don’t seem interested in this idea. 

Hopefully this current situation will make people realise how financially unprepared they actually are and how important it is to manage their money and build up some emergency funds for exactly these kinds of situations. It's been standard advice on here for as long as i have known to have at least 3 months expenses in savings yet so many people seem to have ignored this and now have financially worry to deal with on top of everything else!. 

3 months, your not bad crack. I’m on NMW, I thought I was doing well having 1 weeks pay saved for emergency. By the time all bills are paid I’m lucky to have anything left over

n1guy

hallmark said:

n1guy said:

hallmark said:

That's highly unlikely to be correct.  There is no way that "3 months" won't become at least a year.   He's pulled the rug from under landlords by taking away their only means of dealing with non-payment of rent, whilst putting nothing in place to protect them.  A "mortgage holiday" won't help any landlord without a mortgage, and even for those who do, it's still a legally enforceable and easily recoverable (by the bank) debt.  The landlord has to pay eventually or be repossessed.  The tenants on the other hand, may now choose to simply stop paying rent and there's basically nothing any landlord can do about it.  If this "3 months" is extended say to a year, lots of tenants will live rentfree for that time and at the end of it all the landlords will be able to do is chase the debt via the courts & probably write off most of it.
Horrendous idea that basically assumes landlords are all scumbags who would evict their tenants unless they're legally prevented from doing so.   By taking away the incentive to pay (the nuclear deterrant if you like) the Govt has hamstrung landlords here.   Vote Boris get Corbyn.

We won’t agree but this is very much a them vs us. So are you saying landlords wouldn’t have evicted a load of tenants for non payment?

No & no.  It's not them vs us, it's a business transaction.  A landlord is just a (small) business & the property is their product. It's entirely appropriate that they have a legally enforceable way of receiving payment for it.

If the Govt wanted to prevent evictions during the crisis (and I think most people would agree it should) there's already a mechanism for this: Housing benefit.  The Govt could have simply said "housing benefit qualification standards will be eased/eliminated, anybody who can't pay their rent due to the current crisis is now eligible to claim the full amount of their rent as a benefit.  THAT would have been fair and appropriate.

Instead they've simply passed the entire burden onto landlords.  A direct analogy would be if they told the supermarkets that from now on we're all allowed to take their product without paying and they're not allowed to do anything about it if we do.  You won't see them doing that or anything similar to ANY other business anytime soon.  Likewise you won't be allowed to stop paying income tax, VAT, your TV licence or any other way the Govt takes money off you.

The reason they're doing this is that landlords, unlike (for example) supermarkets, do not have a strong lobby and do not have an army of expensive lawyers.   Also, it's a politically winning strategy to screw over landlords.  It's immoral and a betrayal of supposed conservative values, but neither of those things are a requirement to be a Tory MP.

Housing benefit even if I got full payment would barely cover half my rent as they have been inflated so high. And this is a bog standard semi in the middle of nowhere. 

Takmon

n1guy said:

Takmon said:

n1guy said:

Bossypants said:

^ They move on but with a CCJ in tow, which restricts their ability to rent or get a mortgage in the future. Same for well-intentioned tenants who want to pay back the rent owed, but simply can't afford to make up the difference when they're coming off three months (or more) without a paycheck. This idea helps literally no one.

I agree helps no one. The only solution is to help tenants pay their rent. So throw money at it but they don’t seem interested in this idea. 

Hopefully this current situation will make people realise how financially unprepared they actually are and how important it is to manage their money and build up some emergency funds for exactly these kinds of situations. It's been standard advice on here for as long as i have known to have at least 3 months expenses in savings yet so many people seem to have ignored this and now have financially worry to deal with on top of everything else!. 

3 months, your not bad crack. I’m on NMW, I thought I was doing well having 1 weeks pay saved for emergency. By the time all bills are paid I’m lucky to have anything left over

I don't know your situation but two people working full time earning NMW would be earning £2300 a month which with budgeting will leave plenty of room for savings if they live within their means. Someone on their own then they are still earning £1150 a month so renting a room in a shared house or having a flatmate/housemate would still allow enough in the budget to save money. It's all about living within your means in every part of life based on your income and if you want more then you need to get a higher paid job. 
I have always thought of saving as a priority and made it work no matter how much i was earning because i would never feel conformable having no money to fall back on in case something happened. 

hallmark

n1guy said:

hallmark said:

n1guy said:

hallmark said:

That's highly unlikely to be correct.  There is no way that "3 months" won't become at least a year.   He's pulled the rug from under landlords by taking away their only means of dealing with non-payment of rent, whilst putting nothing in place to protect them.  A "mortgage holiday" won't help any landlord without a mortgage, and even for those who do, it's still a legally enforceable and easily recoverable (by the bank) debt.  The landlord has to pay eventually or be repossessed.  The tenants on the other hand, may now choose to simply stop paying rent and there's basically nothing any landlord can do about it.  If this "3 months" is extended say to a year, lots of tenants will live rentfree for that time and at the end of it all the landlords will be able to do is chase the debt via the courts & probably write off most of it.
Horrendous idea that basically assumes landlords are all scumbags who would evict their tenants unless they're legally prevented from doing so.   By taking away the incentive to pay (the nuclear deterrant if you like) the Govt has hamstrung landlords here.   Vote Boris get Corbyn.

We won’t agree but this is very much a them vs us. So are you saying landlords wouldn’t have evicted a load of tenants for non payment?

No & no.  It's not them vs us, it's a business transaction.  A landlord is just a (small) business & the property is their product. It's entirely appropriate that they have a legally enforceable way of receiving payment for it.

If the Govt wanted to prevent evictions during the crisis (and I think most people would agree it should) there's already a mechanism for this: Housing benefit.  The Govt could have simply said "housing benefit qualification standards will be eased/eliminated, anybody who can't pay their rent due to the current crisis is now eligible to claim the full amount of their rent as a benefit.  THAT would have been fair and appropriate.

Instead they've simply passed the entire burden onto landlords.  A direct analogy would be if they told the supermarkets that from now on we're all allowed to take their product without paying and they're not allowed to do anything about it if we do.  You won't see them doing that or anything similar to ANY other business anytime soon.  Likewise you won't be allowed to stop paying income tax, VAT, your TV licence or any other way the Govt takes money off you.

The reason they're doing this is that landlords, unlike (for example) supermarkets, do not have a strong lobby and do not have an army of expensive lawyers.   Also, it's a politically winning strategy to screw over landlords.  It's immoral and a betrayal of supposed conservative values, but neither of those things are a requirement to be a Tory MP.

Housing benefit even if I got full payment would barely cover half my rent as they have been inflated so high. And this is a bog standard semi in the middle of nowhere. 

You didn't read what I wrote.

afis1904

Takmon said:

n1guy said:

Bossypants said:

^ They move on but with a CCJ in tow, which restricts their ability to rent or get a mortgage in the future. Same for well-intentioned tenants who want to pay back the rent owed, but simply can't afford to make up the difference when they're coming off three months (or more) without a paycheck. This idea helps literally no one.

I agree helps no one. The only solution is to help tenants pay their rent. So throw money at it but they don’t seem interested in this idea. 

Hopefully this current situation will make people realise how financially unprepared they actually are and how important it is to manage their money and build up some emergency funds for exactly these kinds of situations. It's been standard advice on here for as long as i have known to have at least 3 months expenses in savings yet so many people seem to have ignored this and now have financially worry to deal with on top of everything else!. 

Hopefully this current situation will make people realise that being a landlord means having a business where you need money to cover any disruptions whilst not every tenant can afford that.

Takmon

afis1904 said:

Takmon said:

n1guy said:

Bossypants said:

^ They move on but with a CCJ in tow, which restricts their ability to rent or get a mortgage in the future. Same for well-intentioned tenants who want to pay back the rent owed, but simply can't afford to make up the difference when they're coming off three months (or more) without a paycheck. This idea helps literally no one.

I agree helps no one. The only solution is to help tenants pay their rent. So throw money at it but they don’t seem interested in this idea. 

Hopefully this current situation will make people realise how financially unprepared they actually are and how important it is to manage their money and build up some emergency funds for exactly these kinds of situations. It's been standard advice on here for as long as i have known to have at least 3 months expenses in savings yet so many people seem to have ignored this and now have financially worry to deal with on top of everything else!. 

Hopefully this current situation will make people realise that being a landlord means having a business where you need money to cover any disruptions whilst not every tenant can afford that.

Whether you are a Landlord or a Tenant it makes no difference you should still have 3 months expenses in savings to cover emergencies. But just because a Landlord has money saved up it doesn't give tenants the right to not pay their rent just because they have been poor at managing their finances. If a tenant doesn't have any savings it will be because they have prioritised other spending over saving and have been living beyond their means. 
I know several people who claim they "cannot afford to save" but when asked if they know how much their total essential outgoings are they don't know. So they haven't even carried out the most basic budgeting exercise but claim to not have enough money to save simply because they spend every penny that hits their bank account.