Advice for tenants and landlords

The economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak has been well documented. As a tenant, if you anticipate financial difficulties arising from the pandemic we would advise you to speak to your landlord as soon as possible. We encourage our Letting Only landlords to understand your tenant's current position and to be clear on what they would find helpful to their situation.

Tenants of Letting Only properties:
If you expect to have issues paying your rent then we would advise you to speak to your landlord as soon as possible. Before contacting them we would recommend that you are clear about the following:

• In what way your situation has changed
• When any rent payment issues are likely to start
• The extent of the issue (will you be able to pay part of the rent? If so, how much?)
• How long you expect the impact to last
• Have you explored other options such as a guarantor (if you have one) or asking someone for help to meet your rental payments

Landlords of Letting Only properties:
Take note of the above section for tenants so that you have a clear answer on all of those points once you've spoken with your tenant. You may also want to explore options in case your tenant fails to meet their rental obligations. For example:

• Rent guarantee policy
• Mortgage holiday
• Re-mortgage opportunity to reduce outgoings

Carefully consider whether you are able to support the tenant's request or whether you can make a counter-proposal that works for you both. Reaching an agreement as quickly as possible will help in the long term. Ensure that you and your tenant are both clear about the revised arrangement (including how long it will last, or when it will be reviewed, and when any arrears are due to be cleared) and we would strongly recommend confirming this in writing with your tenant.

This is an exceptional global situation. Of course both tenant and landlord will need to consider their best interests, but we all have a moral responsibility to try and find the best way forward for all.