With the number of unemployed people now almost hitting 2 million, landlords face challenging times ahead. It is clear that those unfortunate people who lose their jobs are likely to struggle with paying their rents. Therefore, it is vital that landlords develop creative strategies to help minimise those dreaded void periods.

So here are five tips to help you along the way:

1) Negotiate!

Negotiate with your tenants, see what it is that they can realistically pay and try to work out some kind of payment agreement. After all, if you can achieve 80% of your market rent then it is better than zero rent and better than having to re-advertise the property, running the risk of your property not getting let immediately.

2) Re-Pay the Deposit...Slowly

If you have a good tenant who has always paid the full rent on time and is looking after your property then consider discounting the rent so that you are gradually paying back the deposit.

This way you don't actually lose any rental income as you are slowly paying back the deposit. You can then agree to increase the rent once the tenant has found employment.

3) Move the Tenants on

If you feel that your tenant is likely to fall into further financial problems then try to move them on quickly and without having to start serving notices. Understand how your local authority housing allowances work and give them information so they can move on.

4) Improved but Simple Tenant Vetting

The one thing I always ask of a tenant before they move in is three months of bank statements. Now it is also imperative to ask for savings statements as well. This way you can assess whether the tenant will have sufficient funds in their savings account to continue to pay the rent should they lose their job or if they are out of work temporarily.

5) Guarantors

Now is the time to make sure that you have rent guarantors for your tenants. Make sure they are assigned to the tenancy agreements.

	This article is written by Amer Siddiq, who is the founder of www.propertyportfoliosoftware.co.uk, the UKs number one supplier of landlord software. If you want to learn more about how our award winning software solutions can help you minimise voids and boost cashflow then click here.