Find out what you can do if you are affected because of Coronavirus (Covid-19)
For all Brett’s Coronavirus resources https://www.gladfish.com/covid19/
Video Transcription:
Hey guys Brett here group managing director of Ezytrac Property Group now I just want to talk to you guys because we’re getting lots and lots of calls in about the fact that people having difficulty paying their rent.
What we’re finding that in the vast majority of those cases we’re getting a phone call before you’re actually going to the government website and speaking to the government and seeing what benefits you can get. You see the structure that the government is put in is this okay they’ve helped their landlords out by allowing them to apply for a am a payment holiday okay which isn’t free. They still have to pay that it just means that they’re stopping the payments for three months but the interest and the payment still needs to be made, over the rest of term of the mortgage so in actual fact they’re gonna be charged even more interest on, that’s a positive step forward board what that has done that’s freed up some wriggle room for the landlords in the cases where tenants are having genuine issues, perhaps aren’t met you know there are gaps in a lot of this support.
But for the most part actually, if you go to the government first and work out what you can get yeah that’s gonna save you so much pain after the event. We’re getting lots of people calling in and say I want my rent-free, first of all, there is no rent-free.
That is nowhere in any of the government regulations in the legislation the coronavirus 2020 legislation nothing. It’s not there if we all it would be it would be an arrangement to defer payment so to be a rent holiday for whatever it is or a rent holiday for a portion and for the most part, it’s not going to be free rent totally it’s gonna be a portion it might be you know twenty percent less so you’re paying eighty percent of range month see the issue is this is that if the landlord was to grant you rent-free period okay I’m sorry a payment a rent payment holiday for say three months you’ve got to then make that payment up now if your rent is five hundred a month yeah that five hundred by three months is fifteen hundred you owe you got to add that back on now if you got six months on your or say five months left on your tenancy then all of a sudden that 1500 you have to add 300 bucks a month so your rent is gonna be 800 per month for the rest of that term now will you be able to afford that maybe not.
That’s why the first instance should always be going on the government website which I’m gonna do now and show you just how simple it is to actually identify what you can get and there’s you know there’s so many solutions out there for different people so I’ll look at people who have benefits all of the people who have been made unemployed or perhaps struggling and then I’ll look at self-employed so employed people and self-employed people because actually there are programs that cover the broad spectrum of people so, for the most part, you’re going to be able to access this is why you’ve been paying taxes this is why you know that we have the benefits system we do you know and I guess to be fair you know it’s a great country to be living in that they’re offering this and you know let’s face it the Bojo and Rishi show have really pulled all stops out and they’ve done a fantastic job at supporting you guys our tenants so you can then support effectively and keep paying the rent and that’s what that ash day you know keep the rent flowing because without the rent everyone goes into the fault if the landlord defaults then the bank’s potentially default there’s apparently a run on the banks and we have a massive liquidity issue and the whole economy goes back to 2008 which is not what anyone wants including you guys because at the end of this when we press play again on the economy yeah we want everybody to be back in jobs working as soon as possible to get the GDP everything working again.
The reason we would lock down the economy, make no mistake there will be a recession I think during this period this you know there’s a recession because you don’t drop you know don’t stop the economy it’s such numbers without having that but that doesn’t mean that we have to come out of it in recession.
We want to see a V-shaped recovery this is a U-shaped recovery a V-shaped being very down and then straight back up U-shaped being down and then Siddal on the bottom and finally come out of it or worse which you know some people are talking about potentially but mainly in the US and L-shape which is down and who knows when we’re having come out if we ever do.
I mean there are lots of different options here and what we need from you guys is your support in this. Because we’re all in this together. The media and people like the shelter of position you know landlords versus tenants it’s not a landlord versus tenant thing. Everybody is in the same thing.
We all got to do our bit and your bit as a tenant is to go and look at what government programs are there work out your situation and by doing that once you’ve got that information then by all means come and talk to us. If actually it is a problem at all because for the most part most of the people most the tenants began to speak to the government work out what they’re entitled to come back and say actually no I can pay my rent. Or in the case of say self-employed people it might be hey I’m not getting in my payment until June so I’m gonna struggle to pay for these three months but once I get my payment in then I’ll make that up.
We’re working with tenants we’re working with landlords you know as an agent we’re in between the two of you guys and we’re sort of the go-between but you know my team are working exceedingly hard on answering the same questions and these questions can be answered right now so let’s get into it and have a look.
Basically, if you go to www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support simple just go that one page. Start now. Simple, do you have an urgent meeting? NO, assuming you haven’t got it if you have obviously impressed that what do you need help with I’ve put paying bills being unemployed or not having any work and having someone somewhere to live. All right so those take some other ones as well are you finding it hard to afford rent? YES. It says mortgage or bills but let’s just say yes on that one. Have you been made unemployed or put it in the temporary leave furloughed? YES Are you off work because you’re ill and self isolating? NO, seeing I’m assuming you’re not ill this is just a
the financial thing that we’re looking at. Now are you self-employed? NO. I’m gonna leave the self-employed we’ll deal with that a little bit after. So this is for employed people or unemployed people now do you live do you have somewhere to live? YES I’m gonna assume you got something to live because you’re one of our tenants. Have you been evicted? NO you haven’t and you’re not going to get evicted we can’t evict you we can start the process at any stage. We can give them notice but the eviction and it won’t actually start until the end of September effectively. It’s when they can actually kick back out again when you start evicting you if you haven’t come to arrangement a suitable arrangement if you haven’t been doing the right thing and for the most part, look if you’re gonna be an idiot about it if you’re not gonna communicate with us if you’re not going to let us you know be totally unreasonable about things you know if you’re not gonna even try for benefits and things like this then we’re gonna have to do that. We have to do that, we have to represent our landlord’s interests and at the end of the day they have debt and they have mortgages to pay. And if you’re not paying the rent then it has to be a case of eviction you know or moving out. Now obviously we’d much rather you move out. We much rather come to an arrangement, we much rather communicate than to have to go down the eviction route nobody wants to do that.
You know it costs the landlord a huge amount of money it wastes your time at waste our time and potentially it ruins your credit yeah so you know nobody wants that so let’s not even play that game
so Have you been evicted? NO and certainly from us we won’t be doing that we can’t do that yeah Are you able to leave your home if absolutely necessary? I say YES
Okay so now it’s got the answers so these are your answers and it’s giving you a whole heap of things you can look at based on that so if we just go through a few of these I mean depending on whether you’re in Northern Ireland Scotland Wales you know there’s different advice the bottom line is I’m not gonna go through the whole every single one I’m just gonna look through them and I’ve already been through some of these so what to do if you’re already getting benefits if you already getting benefits Universal credit you know just read that for instance.
Actually you may find that your benefits have increased okay nothing’s changed if you’re on benefits already depending on the benefits if you’re not working versus or maybe you are working but your benefit your income has dropped so your benefits can go up and that will allow you to pay the rent
okay so Universal Credit is a big one and that’s one that you should definitely look at because Universal Credit it basically replaced a whole heap of other things. I’m not even gonna go through them and get into the detail but if you read that page great page.
This is the actual page that talks about the Universal Credit and all that stuff so you can get to that page and look basically step by step you go through eligibility, there’s the five steps okay and by following those you get on whatever the register is or I haven’t been through that process but going through it and effectively you can then start getting credits. Now sure there’s a five-week there are things like that but once you know this and once you’ve applied for that if you send us through that then we can see that’s coming potentially you can pay that directly to as if that will help you and actually then we can come to an agreement it’s a lot better position than succumbing to our team and saying I can’t pay my rent you know I’m not gonna pay my rent and you know too bad that the landlord has to put up with that it’s like no the government is going to help you out so you know use the government you know this is the situation when absolutely a hundred percent you should be using government even if you have some stigma about taking money off the government or you know like lose that this is the time to be doing it okay
so you’ve also got this what to do if you’re employed and cannot work alright you know so have you been furloughed you know so it’s basically step by step lots of things you know apply online for universal credit you know ask for an advance payment because you can do that you know if you’re struggling and ask for an advance payment ask for that yeah don’t wait the five weeks or whatever it takes to get the payment uh and say you’re struggling to pay the rent it would be great if we could make this payment now and they can do that they can authorize that yeah so you know this is a time rather than putting lots of stress and worry into the landlords and the agents put in the government.
The government set up for this yeah and you know it is relatively simple yes it’s gonna take some time but you know what if you’re sitting at home spend some time on the internet get all this done you know if you’re having pays you know you know support paying bills for energy and things like there’s special arrangements there you know you’ve got you know you having trouble with the rent obviously there’s a guidance for landlords and tenants I suggest you read that you know and basically that is the you know this is in here and it goes through and step by step it explains what the landlord’s rights are and what the changes are in the coronavirus legislation how they apply to a landlord but also a tenant so you can understand where the tenants coming from or a landlord’s coming from as well as where you’re coming from and what’s possible okay you’ll find that actually the things I have to say you know as much as the I’m the first one to pay out on the government on first one to make you know fun and jokes but they’re expensive you know and you know but the reality is that they have done really really good getting us through this period where where we are in lockdown and where this is happening.
The next question is how they do how they take us out of this you know the exit plan if you like you know but look there’s a page that haven’t read through it go through it and it’ll give you real clarity if you don’t understand it or you need it explained then by all means you know call up the various helplines they’ve got you’ve got people like you know Citizens Advice you know if you can’t pay your bills because of around a virus they’ve got here and they can help you do this so go onto that website and check it out they will help you they’ve got people on the phone that are experienced in this, yeah and if they need to we’re more than happy to chat to Citizens Advice you know and and and work with them you know in whatever that’s not a problem we can do that yeah so
There are so many options so if you’re employed you can probably stop the video now but go off and get that sorted yeah then come and chat to us and actually, for the most part, you might and that actually it’s not a problem we’re finding almost all of the people that go away speak to the government or get you know have a look at the benefits end up coming back and saying okay it’s all fine now yeah and in fact they’re gonna continue paying the rent which is an amazing thing from some of the phone calls we have where I can’t pay my rent too bad go away don’t call me you know I don’t care I’ll just leave you know which is the emotional response and we get that, yeah a team get that we are all in that situation where we just want to you know to put our head under the sand.
But that’s not the best idea you know that’s not the best idea from a landlord’s perspective from a tenant suspected from an agent perspective it doesn’t help anyone yeah the best is to do and ring up and say hey how you doing hopefully you know you coping through this you know listen I just want to explain my circumstances I’ve been to the government this is what they’re doing this is my issues can we work with the landlord on that. And you know what the landlords are doing this they’re happy to do this yeah because the government’s worked on that side of it with the payment holiday they’re happy to work on this side of it but you’ve got to do your bit all right
So let’s have a look at self-employed people if you’re self-employed people you know they’ve got the equivalent of the furlough where the government pay 80% you know up to two and a half maximum you know thing which for the most part for the next three months and the thing is the only issue is that it’s not going to come until June the payment or it may come earlier but that’s when we’re looking to or that’s when you say that so maybe but you say I haven’t got the money now or I can pay 50% now for the next three months but in June when the payment comes I can then
top-up the rest of it and we can do that.
You know we will work with you if you work with us if you ignore us if you don’t communicate with us if you just say you stick it up your bum I’m not even doing anything then you know what that’s when we have to go we’ll actually our only options are to give you notice and begin the eviction procedure which obviously we have to give you three months notice you know and we can’t start it until September so yeah but by September you’re going to be so far behind the rent the likely it is that because you’ve got behind you’re now going to ruin your credit eventually and we don’t want that nobody wants that alright so you know.
If you’re self-employed there is a scheme there that you can use and I suggest you use it you know the government has I mean this the biggest problem I think is that government has so many pages with so much information yeah but if you start with that one simple one which is just this finally fine coronavirus support that is the best place for and then just run through the applicable ones here and that is good enough then give us a call and let’s talk let’s sit down and let’s work it out let’s work out because what we want to see is we want to see you paying as much now so that you don’t you know heap it back on the back end and then have problems then you know we would rather find something that works for everybody then to go okay well that’s great works for you doesn’t really work for landlord and now the landlord’s got issues there as well yeah but by the same token we don’t want to see you you know struggling to pay and not being able to have food and basic necessities now you know just so you’re okay at the back end and you know when you have to pay back you know we’re in this together let’s work together keep the communication channels open
Let’s keep it real lets you know let’s have proper conversations but go to the government first all right guys trust you safe and healthy and are staying home and hopefully, we’re all through this very soon but look you know the team are there they can help but what I would suggest is you know Citizens Advice fantastic website really supportive we’re used to working with them when there’s you know times of travels and when it went our tenants have travels they are very good yeah so to the government website check out what you can and if you if you’re confused if you’re not getting it you know maybe not it’s not in the right language or whatever you know then go to Citizens Advice because they can definitely help all right okay have a great day and hopefully with all go through this and get on with the quiet enjoyment of your property alright guys see you later bye