Two of the UK’s leading landlord organisations have called for a package of measures from the Government and mortgage lenders to support tenants and landlords affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) and the National Landlords Association (NLA) have called for several measures to be put in place, including the temporary scrapping of the five-week wait before Universal Credit claimants get their first payment.

The pair of organisations have also asked for the pausing of the final phase of restricting mortgage interest relief to the basic rate of income tax, and also want to ensure lenders look “sympathetically” on requests by landlords for mortgage payment holidays where their income is being affected.

In a joint statement, the RLA and the NLA said: “We are encouraging all landlords to work positively with tenants to provide support where needed throughout this difficult period. Landlords should be as flexible as they can to help tenants facing payment difficulties resulting from the impact of the coronavirus.

“To support landlords in this we are calling for a package of measures from Government and mortgage providers. This includes a temporary scrapping of the five week wait before Universal Credit claimants get their first payment, pausing the final phase of restricting mortgage interest relief to the basic rate of income tax and ensuring lenders look sympathetically on requests by landlords for mortgage payment holidays where their income is being affected through reduced or non-payment of rent.”

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