Money Moral Dilemma: Should I reduce my furloughed tenant's rent?

Jaydio87

fscot58 said:

I too am a landlord and need the rent as it’s my sole income. During this exceptional time I’d my tenant comes to come with proof of their situation I’m willing to come to an arrangement that will not increase their debt and worry as I believe we all have to share a bit of the financial pain that’s out there.  If they can prove their case listen and discuss. You may only reduce it slightly but surely something is better than nothing all round. 

Totally agree with. It's all about being reasonable especially if you have good tenants. If this is being your sole income, nothing has been announced for tax relief for yourself expect for mortgage holidays which only means adding interest. 
With the lockdown, monthly outgoing will significantly reduce and some people will be better off than others. Use zoopla as this will estimate utilities for the property.I know it isn't always correct but it'll give you an indication of outgoings before personal deductions. 
Consider 10% as this lockdown may go on for longer. How would this impact you? If it goes on for longer, could you manage 10% reduction for upto 3 months. This could keep your tenants happy and maintain their tenancy which in these times maybe the best thing as there maybe a chance people are looking less to move property 

TheMoocher

Furlough - clarification whilst working redundancy notice
I was given notice of redundancy on 25th January and due to length of service, am still on the company payroll. 
Can I be furloughed even though I was made redundant prior to the 28th February? 

Any help/advise would be most appreciated.

Jaydio87

TheMoocher said:

Furlough - clarification whilst working redundancy notice
I was given notice of redundancy on 25th January and due to length of service, am still on the company payroll. 
Can I be furloughed even though I was made redundant prior to the 28th February? 

Any help/advise would be most appreciated.

If you where made redundant and paid redundancy by the end of feb then the answer is no. If you have received your p45, then no
If your company made you redundant,  redundancy pay is all your entitled to, that'll depend what's in your employment contract

meknowalot-51

This lockdown could easily go on for months,even untill we all get a vaccine(one or two years).At the moment they don't seem that hard done by and will have to tighten their belts a bit.Let's all face it,none of us are going to be spending in the shops or buying holidays anytime soon.Take the full amount while the government is still being very generous and let them know you will review the situation when the amount they recieve changes because sooner or later it will.

Adams_Dad

If you can afford, I'd suggest you 20% rent deferral, reviewable after 3 months and repayable over no more than 6 months once this is over.

sue1201

You can't know what their other outgoings are - they may have to pay for a parent in a care home, or have large debts they're paying off, or child support...  to name a few examples.  However I see no harm in reminding them that their rent is a large proportion of your income (and perhaps you have a buy to let mortage), maybe they will re-think. £750 a month isn't a high rent in most parts of the country, especially in places where people can earn as much as £2500 a month after tax!  Also it depends a bit what sort of relationship you have with your tenants.

If you want to be kind you could offer to meet them halfway i.e. a reduction of 12.5%.  Also set a deadline to review the situation, make it clear it's temporary.

I think that's what I would do.  We have a tenant in our cottage, she pays every month on time and I'm a bit afraid to ask her whether the current situation will affect her ability to pay the rent.  So far she hasn't said anything and I don't want to rock the boat, but I wouldn't want to lose her.  Her rent is about 1/3 of our income, maybe more now that my husband can't do so much of his self employed work.

Hope this helps.

n33712

My tenant is self employed and taking the 3 month 'holiday' Unfortunately his guarantor is also self employed. Trouble is his tenancy is up in 3 months and already suspected that he was going to be moving back out at this point. Guessing here that i will lose 3 months rent.....can't see how i will get this back (apart from the deposit)

wellybike

This issue has stirred up a lot of judging, like FB does. I'm a landlord, initially forced into it by Black whatever day it was back in late 80s when interest rates jumped. I think the answer lies in balance: the landlord costs and the tenant costs both being taken into account. Can the mortgage and an element of repair costs be covered by the £750?, can less cover it? Are they good tenants? are you being greedy? Are they overegging their cost? This is about morals, the landlords and the tenants, not about judging how people live. Mum always thought it was immoral for landlords to squeeze tenants for lots much more than the mortgage would cost and I practice that. Take the 25 year view, this is a bump along the way.

Tula100

I am retired and as I don't have a full state or work pension, my rental income is an important part of my finances.  Fortunately my tenants have paid this month.  My mortgage cost is only 16% of the rental so could ask for a mortgage holiday and reduce it by that, but I would still have to pay the missing interest later.

REJP

Income of wife £2500 plus husband on a pension? I think I could still pay the usual rent if I got that amount of money monthly.
Pay your rent.  Landlord still has rights.  If I was the landlord I might be inclined to review your tenancy agreement, see if I can give you notice to quit and then get another tenant.  As mentioned in other posts, your expenses for getting to work no longer exist so you are saving money.