GENERAL NEWS
Lockdown living
By John Kelly
John Kelly outlines some of the measures in place to assist
tenants during the lockdown
As we have all experienced by now, the lockdown has affected
everybody in more than one way. This change has in some ways been
positive whereby we have spent valuable time with our families, as
well as having time to reminisce about the past. However, the negative
effects are everywhere and it will take many months until we return to
normality. We, as landlords, would like to shed light on the challenges
we have faced and how we have addressed them. We hope that it
may provide understanding and clarity for tenants and landlords.
Communication between landlord, tenants and financiers
Communication is the key to all parties’ survival. Throughout the last
few months, many of our tenants have sent us emails and letters asking
for rental consideration through this tough time. We have been very
grateful for their co-operation and understanding that we too have our
obligations towards financiers. Our property managers had drawn up
a schedule of all our tenants, indicating the correspondence that was
received and released. This included requests for rental discounts and in
some instances, complete rental waivers over the affected period.
Property management and maintenance issues
Unfortunately, a property will always have maintenance issues which
need attending. Although this may be true, our maintenance manager
has not been able to get an Essential Services Permit to deal with
many of the pending issues which are on site. As many of us have
experienced, supervision is key to making sure a job is carried out
properly. Luckily, through cellular correspondence, we have been able to
ensure the following are still attended to and functioning:
Sanitiser distribution
From early March up until now, measures have been put in place
to ensure our properties have hand sanitisers upon entry as well as
throughout each building.
Security services
Fortunately, all the security companies whom we deal with were able to
acquire Essential Services Permits and continue to operate at each of our
properties in the portfolio.
We have been continuously engaging with our banks and other financial
institutions and payment holiday negotiations are ongoing. Our financiers
have certainly shown their consideration towards our company and our
tenants. After much consideration and a confirmation from these financiers,
our property managers were able to offer our tenants rental discounts over
the affected period. Many tenants have expressed their gratitude for this
and we are glad to continue with a strong working relationship.
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Cleaning services
Similarly, the same has applied for each of the cleaning services
contracted within our portfolio.
Whilst it is not always easy for us as we are also not immune from the
economic and other effects of the lockdown, we do our best to keep our
tenants happy. We may not always grant them all their wishes, but we
do our best to find solutions to their issues.
ISSUE 42 - JUNE 2020