The ending of furlough and what is means for Landlords, Tenants and the future of the Private Rental Sector.

With October comes dark and cold mornings, Halloween, the ending of the temporary boost of £20.00 per week for Universal Credit and of course, the ending of the Government’s successful Furlough scheme. It was estimated by The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) back in July that UK unemployment would grow by 150,000 once the scheme ended.

Despite growing calls from a number of MPs on both sides of the house to rethink the ending of the £20.00 per week boost, there doesn’t look to be any reversal of this decision, and the housing charity Crisis is now predicting that around 100,000 households will now be at risk of eviction due to rent arrears.

There are other schemes in which your Tenants can apply for, such as the Debt Respite Scheme (otherwise known as breathing space), but this just pushes the issue further down the line and is not a favourable solution for Landlords who require the rental income to cover mortgage payments and insurance premiums.

It is important to balance the argument out and look at the number of jobs currently available in the UK, and the anticipated “Plan for Jobs” scheme the Chancellor is expected to announce as part of the Governments budget due on 27th October 2021.

None of this however addresses the short-term issue of mounting rental arrears and eviction cases being logged in court, and although notice periods have reverted back to pre-pandemic periods meaning Landlords can now take action earlier when rent arrears are present, it doesn’t address the backlog of cases in the court or the number of Tenants at risk of eviction.

What the sector is calling for the Government and the Chancellor to do is offer a financial support package to Tenants who are in arrears due to the pandemic, the ending of the furlough scheme and on Universal Credit to help clear the debt quickly and allow Landlords to pay their mortgages and insurance premiums, in return for no eviction proceedings to begin.

Without financial support, more arrears will accrue, more Tenants will be evicted and more Landlords will look to exit the sector, leading to an already alarmingly low level of stock we’re seeing available today.

If your Tenant is in arrears and you require help, please contact our Letting specialists on 0161 511 5339 or complete our contact form to to discuss your situation and how we can help.