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Next week the Northern Ireland Assembly is due to debate the Housing Amendment Bill (NI) 2020. The Bill will go through the Assembly by accelerated passage and will amend existing laws for Housing Associations to facilitate the reversal of the 2016 ONS reclassification which made Housing Associations public bodies.
One of our advisers recently had a very positive outcome for a client who was looking forward to starting her new tenancy but quickly came up against a problem.
Confusion around the relaxation of movement restrictions in England have led to an increase in calls to our helpline from tenants who have been told to facilitate property viewings and inspections. There has been no change to the regulations in Northern Ireland which do exempt landlords or other property professionals from the general restrictions on public gatherings, movement and travel. The advice remains to stay at home.
Over 126,000 people in Northern Ireland were claiming Universal Credit on 26 April 2020, an increase of 80% from the figure of 70,000 claimants just 8 weeks earlier on 1 March, according to recently released information from the Department for Communities. The number of applications during that 8-week period totalled 65,700.
Land & Property Services has advised that its online rate rebate portal is unavailable between Monday 4 May and Monday 11 May. This is an annual occurence to allow for the uprating of claims.
From 5 May 2020 until 31 March 2021 any notice to quit issued by a landlord of a private tenancy must be given to the tenant at least 12 weeks' in advance of the date on which it takes effect.
Housing Rights welcomes the official passage of emergency legislation which gives private renters enhanced protection against eviction during the period of Covid19.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has made a number of changes which will give breathing space to people struggling with consumer debt during the lockdown. These temporary measures include assistance for people with overdrafts, credit cards, motor finance packages, payday loans and "buy now pay later" arrangements.
