World's tiniest violin

From The Telegraph:

"Coronavirus means I'm losing £4,100 per month" (1): how landlords' businesses are under threat

Coronavirus means some tenants are breaking contracts (2), cutting landlords' cash flow and leaving them with empty properties they can't fill

For Jamie Moodie, a landlord in south-west London, the fallout from corona virus has hit hard.

His monthly income from his portfolio of 23 properties (3) has dropped by £4,100 since lock down began.(1)

Some of Moodie's European tenants left the country before lock down (4), leaving two properties empty (5). He has little hope of getting back the lost rent, as currently he “can’t fill those properties, I can’t show them to anyone”. Some of his tenants have also lost their jobs and are no longer paying rent. (6)

He is one of many landlords feeling new pressure. The outbreak is set to cause lasting damage to the sector that could mean disastrous problems for renters further down the line (7).

1) Not clear, is he actually making a loss of £4,100 a month, or has his income fallen by £4,100?

2) The landlord is no longer providing what was agreed, i.e. a home close to well-paying jobs, a nice local park, a good local school. So the contract has no substance.

3) He expects sympathy?

4) Sensible thing to do, you can't fault them for that.

5) If he doesn't like owning empty homes, he can just sell them. It's a free world.

6) But who cares about somebody losing their job? Pfft! The landlord is not collecting rent, that's the tragedy here!

7) Our old friend, the Missing Homes Conundrum makes a late appearance.

And landlords aren't businesses, they just own too many homes. The homes are not "under threat", whatever happens, they will still be there when this is all over.