Landlord organisations are calling on the Government to build on its positive steps to date to support the private rented sector through the coronavirus outbreak. 

The organisations are calling for: 

Efforts to help reduce costs for landlords without mortgages 

Not all landlords have a mortgage and therefore will be unable to secure a buy-to-let mortgage holiday. To assist this group to work with tenants struggling to pay their rent the RLA and NLA are calling for a range of measures, including:   

• Recognition that all but emergency repairs and maintenance where there is a threat to the safety of tenants or the habitability of the property will be postponed until such time that normal business may resume. 
• Pausing any new payments to councils for licensing schemes. 
• Waiving costs charged by superior landlords for blocks of flats, such as service charges, and ground rent charges in relation to leasehold properties. 

Boosting tenant incomes 

The RLA and NLA are calling for: 

• Scrapping the five week wait for the first payment of Universal Credit. 
• Ensuring the housing element properly reflects rent levels. 
• Paying the housing element of new UC claims directly to the landlords in both the social and private rented sectors to provide assurance that rent is covered.