The Draft Bill relating to the Coronavirus emergency laws

There has been much information circulated from a variety of sources, including Boris Johnson’s daily updates, regarding measures being put in place for private renters during the Coronavirus crisis. 
 
The Draft Bill relating to the Coronavirus emergency laws has been passed through the Commons and is currently going through the Lords as such it will be enacted over the next 2 days.  This means we can now give much needed clarity to the situation regarding your Tenancy and any changes to your rights and responsibilities:
 
 Rent
 
There is NO change in this regard to how it has always been, your rent is lawfully due and if you get into any rent arrears you will be fully liable for these. The government is offering help to employees with statutory sick pay improvements, the Coronavirus employee retention scheme, increased access to benefits, to allow people to pay their rent and not run up debts during this difficult time, which they then have to repay.  Please ensure you gain access to these at the earliest opportunity, the following link will help you with Universal credit: https://www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit
 
Changes to evictions and the possession process
 
The Bill has extended the notice period we must give tenants for possession of the property to three months instead of the customary two months.  Contrary to previous headlines there is no eviction ban, notices for possession of the property can still be served, just with the longer notice period.  We will of course maintain full lines of communication to work with you in this eventuality and would hope to maintain rental payments at a level where this could be avoided.
 
Maintenance works
 
We are waiting for clarification from the government as to what maintenance work we will be able to carry out under the stricter lockdown measures we are currently in.  We look forward to updating you with this as soon as we have the information and thank you for your patience.
 
If there are any relevant changes to this information we will of course keep you updated.
 
As ever if you have any queries please do contact us and we will be happy to help.
 
Yours sincerely

Belvoir Portsmouth