From loans to mortgage holidays: the Coronavirus help available for landlords

The Scottish Government has gone a step further than other devolved governments in providing assistance to landlords.

Property investment remains incredibly popular in the UK, despite a succession of measures from the Government in recent years which has dented the returns on offer.

According to a study by Hamptons International, there were around 2.66 million landlords across the country last year. While that’s the lowest figure in seven years, it’s still an awful lot of people with money tied up in property investments.

And these landlords are facing financial difficulties of their own as a result of the Coronavirus situation. So what help is on offer to landlords? The answer may vary slightly depending on precisely where you have invested in property.

The UK

Certain provisions apply across all of the UK, no matter whether you have an investment in Belfast, Bangor, Burnley or Bearsden (yes, I had to Google that one).

As a result of the Coronavirus Act and Coronavirus (Scotland) Act, residential tenants who miss their rent payments are protected from eviction for three months. 

However, as this could put landlords in the difficult position of having to absorb these losses while keeping up with their own mortgage payments, mortgage lenders have agreed to offer eligible landlords mortgage payment holidays of up to three months.

This works in the same was a mortgage payment holiday on a regular residential mortgage. While you do not have to make your usual payment, that debt is not being wiped out ‒ you will still have to pay it, just at a later date. As a result it will increase the cost of future repayments.

In order to qualify, landlords need to meet two specific criteria. Firstly, their tenant will need to have been directly or indirectly impacted by Covid-19.

In addition, you must be up to date on your current mortgage payments. 

For more on mortgage payment holidays, read Mortgage payment holidays: costs, risks and who is eligible.

Scotland

There’s further support though if you have invested in a property in Scotland, for some landlords at least.

This week the Scottish government announced a specialist fund designed to provide financial backing to landlords north of the border.

The Private Rent Sector Landlord Covid-19 Loan Scheme is worth £5m and will allow landlords to claim up to 100% of lost rental income for a single property, should their tenants be unable to keep up with the rent currently.

The Scottish government made clear that if landlords have concerns over keeping up with their repayments, they should speak to their lender about taking a mortgage payment holiday before applying to the loan scheme.

Importantly, the loan scheme isn’t open to all landlords. In order to be eligible, landlords must not be classified as businesses, have five or fewer properties available for rent and have lost rental income as a result of Covid-19.

Landlords will be able to apply for a loan to cover lost rental income for a period of up to six months, which will be backdated to the start of March. The payment will come into two halves, with landlords asked to verify the continued loss of income before the second instalment is paid.

Loan repayments are deferred until October 2020. The loan will be repaid in 12 monthly instalments, though it can be fully repaid at any point.

Meeting your responsibilities

Despite the impact of the pandemic, landlords still need to meet certain responsibilities.

Landlords remain legally obligated to ensure that properties are up to the required standard, so if urgent, essential health and safety repairs are required, they must be made. 

Landlords can discuss with their tenants any non-urgent repairs and when they can be safely carried out.

The Government has advised that local authorities should take a “pragmatic, risk-based approach” when it comes to enforcement.