Residential Landlords: The cost of living crisis is affecting your tenant, what can you do?

The widely reported cost of living crisis is causing significant financial problems for many families. Private tenants have felt the pinch as rents and the cost of utilities have increased.

If you are a private landlord, you may recently have had the unhappy experience of your tenant(s) failing to pay rent due to you on time, or at all. If that is the case, you may be wondering what options you have. Colemans can help.

If your otherwise good and reliable tenant has recently stopped paying rent on time or just stopped paying altogether, the first thing we suggest you do is simple; open lines of positive communication and do so quickly. It may be that their financial circumstances have changed recently and they genuinely cannot afford the rent as it falls due. Whilst this is far from ideal, if the change in circumstances is likely to be short-lived and your tenant can satisfy you that they are taking steps to ensure that their situation will improve soon, you may be willing to “do a deal” that helps your tenant and you can keep an otherwise reliable tenant. We can help you to do this on terms that ensure that your position is protected just in case things don’t work out.

If your tenant’s circumstances are not likely to improve, they may be relying on the local authority to rehome them. If this is the case, the sooner you know the better. You may not realise that it is local authority policy to advise tenants that they cannot be allocated social housing if they leave their private rental property before a formal County Court Possession Order is made. We know from experience that some local authorities go a step further and tell private tenants not to vacate their private rental property until they are evicted by bailiffs if they want local authority housing.

So, you may think that you are helping your tenant(s) by not doing anything, but in fact failing to take swift action to start formal possession proceedings may be bad for you and them.

For advice or assistance on what steps to take and when, speak to an expert in residential landlord and tenant law early. The team at Colemans has acted for a number of landlords successfully and will work with you and/or your letting agents to get the best result for you, which is also often the best result for your tenant too.

Call Sheena Bradfield at Colemans on 01628 631051 or email sheena.bradfield@colemans.co.uk today.

Categorised in: Residential Property

This post was written by Colemans Solicitors LLP