PRS Landlord (non-business) Covid19 Loan Support Application form

Introduction

The Scottish Government wishes to offer a loan to assist private rented sector landlords, where they are experiencing difficulties as a result of COVID-19. The aim of the loan is to protect tenants and the viability of the rental sector and it is intended as an emergency response, providing a short term support option that allows landlords to help tenants facing difficulties. It will primarily address the gap resulting from tenants reduced ability to pay rent or from voids where the landlord is unable to secure a new tenant due to restrictions in place as part of the response to the Covid-19 outbreak and is aimed at landlords who do not qualify for support under other mechanisms, such as through UK Government’s support schemes. It is hoped that the loan can reduce the financial pressure on landlords and tenants whilst other mechanisms start to deliver support. The loan is being delivered by the Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Pre-Application Eligibility

• Applications must be completed and submitted personally by the owner of the property being applied for and not by any third parties, such as letting agencies or tenants.
• The rental property must be in Scotland and within the private rented sector (as per the terms of the 2006 Housing Act) and is not a short-term holiday let or agricultural tenancy.
• You are currently a registered landlord or you have applied to become a registered landlord on or before 31 January 2020 and are pending registration. If you have applied to become registered from 1 February 2020 onwards then you are not eligible.
• You are not classified as a business or self-employed person.
• Your domestic property rental portfolio consists of 5 or fewer properties.
• The property applied for must have been available for rental on or before 31 January 2020.
• Since 1 March 2020 or later you are affected by non-payment or reduced payment of rent from an existing tenant(s) or have been unable to secure a new tenancy as a result of COVID-19 impacts.
• Where you have been unable to secure a tenant, the property must have become vacant on or after 01 February 2020
• You are ineligible for, have been refused or are waiting for a decision on whether you can receive alternative forms of support available as listed below:
  • Where a landlord’s normal employment is on hold due to the Covid-19 crisis they should access support from the UK government’s Furloughed Employment channel: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-could-be-covered-by-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
  • Where a landlord’s normal employment has ended and they are now unemployed they should approach DWP for assistance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-you-were-employed-and-have-lost-your-job
  • Where a landlord’s normal self-employment has ceased or significantly reduced they should access the self-employment support channel: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-what-to-do-if-youre-self-employed-and-getting-less-work-or-no-work
  • We reserve the right to validate this information with the relevant authorities.
• If you have a mortgage and rely upon rental income to cover the repayment costs then you have applied to your lender for a repayment holiday and been refused for a reason other than outstanding arears.
• The Scottish Government have been clear that no tenant should be evicted due to rent arrears caused by the Covid-19 crisis. From 07 April, the Coronavirus Act (Scotland) 2020 temporarily extends the amount of notice landlords must give when ending a tenancy. In most cases, landlords will now need to give tenants 6 months' notice, unless they are ending the tenancy for certain reasons. The new law also temporarily makes all grounds for eviction in the private rented sector discretionary. This means that even if the Tribunal agrees that the ground exists, it still has to decide whether it is reasonable to issue an eviction order. More information can be found at https://www.mygov.scot/ending-a-tenancy-as-a-landlord/. Prior to applying for this loan, landlords must have discussed rent issues with their tenants and reached an agreement on managing rent arrears that have arisen as a result of Covid-19.
• Although Landlords cannot compel tenants to access either the various UK Government Coronavirus Employment schemes or access Universal Credit, including the Housing Benefit element, it is a requirement of this loan that you have engaged with your tenant(s) to raise awareness of the help that is available to them.

Please select a password so that you can save your progress and return to complete your application at a later point if you need to.

Your new password must contain:

• At least 8 characters
• At least 1 uppercase letter
• At least 1 lowercase letter
• At least 1 number
• At least 1 special character (such as ",!,$ etc...)

• Landlord registration number or evidence of pending registration from the local authority showing your application was made on 31 January 2020 or earlier.
• Address details for the properties within your rental portfolio.
• Most recent tenancy agreement for the property you are applying for.
• Copy of rent increase notification (where this is not the same as the tenancy agreement).
• If the property is currently unoccupied, notification from the most recent tenant(s) of the intended leave date. This date must be 1 February 2020 or later.
• If the property is due to shortly become unoccupied, notification from the most recent tenant(s) of the intended leave date.
• Bank statements for three consecutive months immediately prior to the loss of rental income and show the normal rental income being deposited - These can be either scanned copies or downloaded statements from your online bank account.
• Evidence from a mortgage lender of their refusal to provide a mortgage repayment holiday. This is for all applicable mortgage products relating to the property being applied for. This is not required where there is no mortgage on the property.

Important

For all evidence you provide you must remove or hide any personal data about the tenant(s) to ensure you comply with GDPR. Typically, this can include but not be limited to their name, date of birth, contact details, place of work, job details and previous addresses.

We aim to process your loan offer within 10 working days of receiving a fully complete application. Your loan offer may be delayed if there is missing information or if we need to clarify anything with you.

If you need help completing this application form, please email covidlandlordloan@est.org.uk or call 0808 196 3660 and we will be happy to help.