NRLA ramps up pressure for financial support
The NRLA is maintaining pressure on the Government to provide financial support for the private rented sector due to the impact of Covid-19, with our work making national headlines this week.
Firstly, findings from our latest Dynata research were published which underline the scale of the crisis unfolding across the private rented sector.
The NRLA argued that the Chancellor is ‘making landlords the scapegoats for the rent debt crisis’, and that a comprehensive financial package from the Treasury is the only way to ensure the post-Covid PRS is stable, fair and inclusive for both tenants and landlords.
Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said:
“The Chancellor has clearly decided on a strategy of making landlords the scapegoats for a crisis of his own making. For less than the cost of the ‘Eat Out to Help Out Scheme’ he could provide landlords and tenants with the financial support they need to keep tenants in their homes and prevent damage to credit scores.
“Landlords want to sustain tenancies wherever possible, but without the support so many desperately need, the Chancellor will need to accept the tragic costs of his failure to act.”
Our release was covered by a number of media outlets, including Your Money, and Property Industry Eye.
Working cross sector
Coverage was also featured in the Independent via an opinion piece from NRLA CEO Ben Beadle and Phil Andrew, Chief Executive of StepChange, with both CEOs continuing to highlight the case for landlords and tenants.
Earlier this week the NRLA also joined forces with a range of organisations across the sector to express concerns regarding the ongoing rent arrears crisis.
Alongside Shelter, Propertymark, StepChange, Generation Rent, and the Money Advice Trust, the NRLA issued a joint briefing to the Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing, Eddie Hughes MP, setting out the scale of the problems facing the PRS.
The briefing detailed the sector’s ongoing concerns about the impact of mounting Covid-related rent arrears and argued that the introduction of emergency support is necessary in order to protect tenants and landlords. The organisations called on the government to establish a system which provides grants and no-interest loans to those tenants worst affected by the pandemic, echoing the NRLA’s year-long campaign on this issue.
We want to hear from you
If you have been impacted by tenants in significant rent arrears, and would like to share your experience with us, we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch through our webpage so we can hear your story.
