Landlords call for government support during Covid-19 outbreak
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Two leading landlord associations have called on the government to introduce a package of measures to support the rental sector during the coronavirus outbreak.
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In a joint statement, the Residential Landlords Association and the National Landlords Association said they were encouraging all landlords to work “positively with tenants to provide support where needed throughout this difficult period”.
The statement continued: “To support landlords in this, we are calling for a package of measures from government and mortgage providers.
“This includes a temporary scrapping of the five-week wait before Universal Credit claimants get their first payment, pausing the final phase of the restricting mortgage interest relief to the basic rate of income tax, and ensuring lenders look sympathetically on requests by landlords for mortgage payment.”
Millions of people are expected to see their incomes and jobs hit as the coronavirus pandemic batters the economy. The CBI told the House of Commons business committee on Tuesday morning it was a “critical” time for business, with hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk if the government does not take appropriate action, while the hospitality industry separately warned that numerous businesses could under following government advice to avoid pubs, clubs and restaurants.
There are also concerns that people who do not have contracts – members of the so-called gig economy – and the self-employed are not entitled to statutory sick pay if they need to self-isolate.
The airline industry, meanwhile, is expected to be hit particularly hard as travel is banned and flights grounded, with Virgin Atlantic already asking staff to take eight weeks unpaid leave.
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a series of measures aimed at helping businesses survive the outbreak in the Budget last week, and is expected to update that further during a press briefing later on Tuesday.