UK, Germany, and Holland set laws in motion to protect tenants as virus hits economy

As COVID-19 continues to disrupt the world economy, countries are implementing special laws in a bid to protect their citizens some breathing room financially. The British, German, and Dutch governments have banned landlords from issuing lease forfeitures if tenants fail to pay rent – they’ve also placed a moratorium on all evictions.

While each of the laws set in motion by each of the three countries is similar, there are some key differences. For example, the German measures, as explained by legal firm Noerr, mean that tenants who fail to pay their rent from April to June 2020 will be protected from eviction until July 2022, during which time they will pay back missed rent.

The UK has not been so kind, however: as Watson Farley and Williams explains, the law does not give tenants sufficient time to redistribute the financial load over a long period of time, which threatens their ability to repay their arrears fully.

Finally, the Dutch law is very similar to that imposed in the UK, save for the fact that any evictions will have to be approved by a court, which could take up to one year, thus allowing the tenants to get back on their feet financially and pay missed rent.