Mortgage Payment Holidays Extended
We have recently discussed the current legal position for residential and commercial landlord and tenants.
Whilst the Coronavirus Act 2020 has put measures in place to relieve the pressure on tenants so that they cannot be evicted if they do not pay their rent, this puts landlords in a difficult position where they have a buy to let mortgage and are unable to keep up with the payments because they are not receiving any rent.
Equally, homeowners with mortgages are faced with a similar situation where they are in financial difficulty.
Help for homeowners
There has been in place since March, an option for homeowners to apply to their lender for a mortgage payment holiday which would allow homeowners to reduce or stop paying their mortgage payments for up to three months.
The three month period has now been extended and all homeowners have until 31 October 2020 to make an application.
Approved applications will defer payments until a later date. For applications to be successful, mortgage payments need to be up to date and it has to be shown that the financial difficulties are due to the coronavirus.
It has also been confirmed that lenders will be banned from taking possession action until after 31 October 2020. This means that homeowners are not at risk of losing their property during this period, and for those properties that are rented, it acts as a further protection for tenants.
Temple Heelis advise clients in a broad range of property matters and offer free initial consultations. For more information, please contact Laura Bright, Richard Moore or John Sim.