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Relief for lettings sector as mandatory mediation threat is lifted

The government has surprised observers by announcing that compulsory mediation over Covid-related arrears would happen in the commercial sector - but not the residential market.

Speculation in at least one national newspaper suggested the government would make mediation compulsory across both the residential and commercial sectors.

However, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay, has told MPs that the ban on commercial evictions - which had been set to end on June 30 - would be extended into March 2022.

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A new and binding arbitration mechanism would be introduced introduced to help commercial tenants and landlords resolve disputes over Covid-related arrears.

However, no mention was made of a similar mandatory arbitration to settle disputes between landlords and tenants in the residential sphere.

 

 

“We will introduce legislation in this parliament session to establish a backstop so that where commercial negotiations between tenants and landlords are not successful, they go into binding arbitration” Barclay told MPs.

“Until that legislation is on the statute book existent measures will stay in place, including extending the existing moratorium in place to protect tenants from eviction to March 2022.

“All tenants should start to pay rent again in accordance with the terms of their lease or as otherwise agreed with their landlord.”

The commercial sector eviction ban was introduced in April last year, originally until September 2020. It was then extended to the end of this month - and now expires on March 25 2022.

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    Can we also make it into law that mediators are home owners to give balance

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    • AQ
    • 16 June 2021 10:48 AM

    "I am unhappy with mediation - please proceed with eviction"

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    Surely we all try to mediate with problem tenants, eviction comes when there is no way forward

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    Absolutely. The moment the rent is not paid mediation starts. Too often it reaches the Courts due to a tenant's failure to respond to these efforts (note plural!).
    I have no issue with mediation per say, but history of Tenant non-engagement must be the first consideration with no penalty towards a Landlord who can evidence that they have tried to mediate on numerous occasions.

     
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    This will work well for us in one way. All new enquires three questions Did you pay your rent during the pandemic and have you ever had to go through mediation as well as have you got pets?
    Round file

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    Lol whats have you got pets got to do with it, a person who trashes a house would do so with or without a pet, every pet owner I know looks after their rented house as its hard to find a rental property that allows them ( until the law is changed ), so its ok for a borrowed mortgage property to allow pets ie the banks allow it but not ok if a renter wishes to have a pet on a borrowed home, that seems fair NOT, how about the renter can they check to see why a landlord had to go to mediation as well, thought not

     
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    Take it you not in favour of my reasoning which allows me to stay in the business of putting roofs over decent peoples heads?

     
    PossessionFriendUK PossessionFriend

    Problem is No tenants confess to having pets, a landlords ' notices them ' on his first visit and the tenants always seem to be looking after them temporarily for a relative. !
    There is no eviction process, other than sec 21 - soon to be abolished.

    There isn't a Judge in the land who would grant eviction on Ground 12, - breach of a term of the tenancy for having a Dog - Unfortunately.

     
  • Matthew Payne

    Of course they are, they cant afford a tsnami of evictions as this plays out. Only the extreme cases will get possession, the breathing space, now this etc is designed to get us through the summer with the majority of tenants staying put. Then comes autumn/winter, wave 4 and the realisation that they need to revaccinate the whole population again with a variant booster as immunity anyway starts to erode, and we have another moritorium on all evictions. Any mainstream evictions wont start happening until the middle of 2022. I have been saying this for a while now, so there shouldnt be too many people left on LLT who are surprised that it aint going to be 2021.

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    Often there’s nothing to mediate. They owe the rent and that’s that. I’ve only ever had these people attempt to get me to back down on what is owed…”Would you take half the owed rent and call it quits?” No. No I bloody well won’t! “What about a 25% reduction?” Again, no!

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    I had one once that moved out before getting his new home, the new landlord wanted a reference from me, so back came the tenant and offered me half the owed rent, I refused saying no amount of money would buy him a reference from me.

     
    Theodor Cable

    Excellent

     
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    Andrew,

    I would have happily taken half the rent from them and given the factual reference.

    This Tennant was with me from X until Y. They failed to pay rent for X amount of months. It was agreed that for half the rent owed paid I would give this reference.

    Yours faithfully.

    Job jobed.

     
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    Ed, we have to be careful when giving a reference, it's better where we cannot give a good reference just to say '' on this occasion I am unable to give a reference'', anyone reading that soon gets the message loud and clear .

     
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    So we are being forced to do what we have always done, it has taken them a long time to come up with that, its as the man said to see how much more of a knock the LL can take before going to Court for a further reduction.

  • John Ahmed

    Might work well if it does not become like the tenant deposit scheme.
    However these government ideas have a tendency to become another layer of "red tape" hurting landlords by adding more cost and reducing commercial common sense.

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    and you dont think renters have even more hurdles to jump through, the average sentence for an illegal eviction is £1500 and community services, landlords know this and the shady goings on or forced illegal evictions is unreported and in the knowledge its unlikely that x renters will even push for a prosecution as in reality no one cares and the courts seem to see it as a minor offence when in effect its devastating for the renter who probably has PTSD & lost personal items etc, the DPS is run by companies that also sell landlord protection insurance, conflict of interest ect etc

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    • AQ
    • 16 June 2021 14:14 PM

    Tenants undergoing illegal evictions are almost always tenants that have been taking the pss w.r.t. rent. No, they shouldn't have the same legal protections as other types of tenants undergoing eviction.

     
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    What landlord evicts a paying tenant for no reason, the tenants that you are referring to are the ones that deserve all they get.

     
    Theodor Cable

    If they don't pay the contracted agreement, then what do they expect?

     
  • PossessionFriendUK PossessionFriend

    Who reckons DE is a 'Shelter plant' and is playing dumb ?

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    P F uk that’s exactly how it is, how many times have I heard that, we are just looking after it for a friend, so now they want to make it official, same goes for extra stayers (sub-letting) my friends are only visiting.

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