A new survey has found that landlords are feeling abandoned by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic, with 64% saying they haven’t received any financial support and 52% believing they should receive future financial support.
The panel of landlords, surveyed by OnePoll for The Mortgage Lender, favour the reintroduction of tax relief on mortgage interest payments for a limited period (63%) and automatic deferral of tax bills for 12 months (52%) as a way to support the sector as it recovers from the financial hit of Covid-19.
64% of landlords reported they had received no financial assistance during the pandemic, 20% of landlords had received a bounce-back loan, 24% had taken a payment deferral as a precaution and 11% had taken a payment deferral out of necessity.
Of the landlords who had received financial assistance 44% reported that it had already impacted on their ability to obtain further mortgage funding while 31% expected it to impact them negatively in the future. Only 8% of investors felt the assistance they had received would have no impact on their future plans.
Steve Griffiths, the Mortgage Lender’s sales director, said: “When the government was putting together its package of financial assistance for homeowners and tenants, buy-to-let landlords weren’t a consideration.
“Some have benefitted from a bounce-back loan and some have taken advantage of payment deferral on their mortgages but the additional tenant protection included in the Coronavirus Act 2020 has led to landlords feeling that they have been overlooked.
“The government was also unequivocal that payment deferrals wouldn’t impact on an individuals’ credit file, however a large number of those buy-to-let landlords who have received financial support in the form of a payment deferral are reporting that it is already impacting their ability to obtain mortgage funding.
“We don’t use a tick box approach to underwriting but rather look at the individual and the property portfolio as a whole to determine whether we will lend – we’re also available to talk through cases with brokers before they are submitted.”
