Landlords have been ignored by Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) in his Covid rescue plan, said David Alexander, joint managing director of property management firm Apropos.
A “jobs support scheme” is replacing the furlough scheme, which will enable businesses to keep workers on shorter hours, with people working a third of their usual hours and the government topping up their pay by another third.
But David Alexander, joint managing director of Apropos, said: “The Chancellor has missed a golden opportunity to provide support to individual landlords in this country at a time when many of them are experiencing severe financial hardship.
“These ‘invisible’ people, who own one or two properties and rental is often their sole source of income, make up the majority of landlords in the UK and they are facing extremely difficult times.
“If these individuals are not supported then the risk is that they will exit the private rented sector (PRS) in large numbers which will cause enormous problems for tenants in the coming year. Supporting this vital group within the renting sector is essential and must be addressed immediately.”
Alexander added: “Larger companies and investor groups involved in the PRS have rightly been financially supported through various Government loans, schemes and grants but many smaller landlords don’t have their business structured in a way to benefit from this backing.
“Therefore, there are thousands of landlords who have been unable to access any financial support in the first six months of the pandemic and now face a further six months without any government help.”
