Only My Share seeks to reassure private renters
- 25% of tenants fear falling into rent arrears (Landlord Information Network)
- Clarity lacking on eventual outcomes for renters struggling due to pandemic
- Only My Share offering reassurance to renters in shared households
It’s a troubling time for renters. While the UK’s major banks are working with the government to provide property owners who need it with a three-month mortgage break if required, plans for private renters (who account for one in five UK households) have unfolded far less rapidly and clearly.
What the government has done is announce that “no renter in either social or private accommodation will be forced out of their home during this difficult time.”
“While ensuring no evictions is a positive step, it does nothing to address the issue of tenants who find themselves unable to pay their rent and are thus building up rent arrears. Many people who are self-isolating or looking after children who would otherwise be in school or early years childcare settings, may suddenly find themselves unable to work and unable to earn. If they’re building up rent arrears, what will happen as soon as the eviction ban lifts? The government’s plan to leave landlords and tenants to ‘work together to establish an affordable repayment plan’ doesn’t sound very reassuring.”
Terry Mason, Group Operations Director, Only My Share
Cases of tenants who are seriously behind on their rent were already rising, before the added complication of the global pandemic. The Landlord Information Network reports that over 25% of tenants fear they will fall into rent arrears.
For those living in shared houses, the issue of rent arrears has been a thorny one for some time. ‘Joint and several’ tenancy agreements mean that all tenants are equally liable for each other’s obligations under the contract. This means that a tenant can be taken to court for their housemate’s rent arrears (once the courts begin processing such cases again).
Those who are concerned about being in such a situation are not without options. Rent arrears protection service Only My Share exists to deal with precisely these circumstances. Housemates and their guarantors can both enjoy protection of up to £10,000 of fellow housemates’ arrears from just £99 per year; subject to their standard terms and conditions
“Many sharers don’t realise that they could be liable for thousands of pounds of rent arrears based on payments that were never theirs to make in the first place. With the current pandemic highlighting the precarious conditions that many renters face, services like Only My Share can provide a very welcome degree of reassurance.”
Terry Mason, Group Operations Director, Only My Share
Only My Share is part of the Housing Hand group. Housing Hand provides a UK rent guarantor service, while Only My Share protects the guarantor… and the tenant.
For more information please contact Only My Share today on +44 (0) 204 579 5891 or visit https://www.onlymyshare.com/