It appears that many landlords across the UK are going to come under increasing pressure from the position of failing care home provider Southern Cross Healthcare.
Questions in the House
The company which is reckoned to be the largest independent home care provider in the UK has been experiencing problems for some time now and as previously reported is hoping that landlords will be receptive to renegotiating their rental charges to stop the company collapsing. The issue is serious enough to have been mentioned in Prime Ministers Question Time last week.
The company which owns 750 homes spread across the UK is responsible for the care of over 31,000 old people and is the employer of well over 40,000 staff, has undergone a big reshuffle of the boardroom and introduced one new member specifically to bring landlords around the table in an attempt to get them to lower their charges. The man in question, Tim Bolot may not know too much about landlord insurance but certainly is skilled in the art of financial restructuring.
Will landlords suffer a knock on effect?
The result of the talks between Southern Cross and their landlords will be watched with interest by many landlords in all areas of the UK. The problems that are engulfing Southern Cross at the moment are being experienced on a much smaller scale by tenants in each and every town and city. The austerity measures, cuts to the public purse and the spiralling fuel bills are making each and every one of us look at ways to cut our expenditure. Many landlords will be fearful that the result of landlords cutting their rents in such a high profile case will lead to calls from their own tenants to have their rents lowered too.
Choices to be made
Of course landlords also suffer along with others in times of austerity, cheap property insurance can be found if they look around, and they can try and keep a check on their outgoings in other areas. For many though, the choice between losing a good tenant or lowering their rents may be one that they have to consider if the Southern Cross situation is resolved by landlords acquiescing to their demands.