The disruption to businesses and the economy caused by the Coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented. The UK Government has reacted swiftly with measures aimed at both stopping the spread of the virus and mitigating the subsequent damage caused to the economy with a substantial stimulus package.
The situation is changing on a daily basis, therefore during these difficult times we thought it would be helpful for landlords to have a single resource of useful links and pages that they can continuously check for updates.
The obvious first stop for any landlord is to check the Government site itself to see the latest measures which could potentially apply to you.
Here is a summary of measures so far:-
- a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- deferring VAT and Income Tax payments
- self-employment Income Support Scheme
- a Statutory Sick Pay relief package for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs)
- a 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England
- small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief
- grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
- the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank
- a new lending facility from the Bank of England to help support liquidity among larger firms, helping them bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through loans
- the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme
Another excellent source of information specifically aimed at Landlords is the NRLA (previously RLA and NLA) website. As the UK’s largest membership organisation for private residential landlords, they can provide recommendations and guidance. If you are a member you can also get free advice either on-line or by phoning them 03330 142 998 and press option 1 to speak to a landlord advisor. Their article Coronavirus – What Landlords Need to Know gives practical advice and downloadable resources from on how to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak. Click link here.
Companies House
Companies House has robust plans in place to maintain services for customers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, including information on filing your accounts on-line and if your company cannot file accounts on time. Read more here
Coronavirus Act 2020
If you would like details of the legislation relating to Coronavirus, then a PDF of the new Act is also available here.
Of course, your tenants will need support too, so the below links may help you provide advice and support.
Other useful links
Coronavirus and claiming benefits
Landlord opinion and support from Property Tribes
We’ve also produced flowcharts to help you understand what support you can receive.