As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve in Australia and globally, we would like to update you on announcements from Monday, 30 March 2020, and to provide you with information regarding how we are operating aspects of your tenancies.
Prime Minister’s Announcement – 30 March 2020
The Prime Minister announced a wage subsidy package today which is being called the JobKeeper payment. This is available to full-time and part-time workers, sole traders and casual workers who have been with their employer for 12 months or more. This will allow businesses to keep employees on the books to distribute this payment during this downtime.
For anyone who has lost their job due to COVID-19, please visit Treasury’s Jobkeeper Payment Information, so that you can review your eligibility with your employer/previous employer as you may be eligible even if you have been stood down due to the pandemic response. We hope this will help ease the pressure for so many people across Australia.
During this time there may be delays of payments to you if you fall under this incentive. Please continue to communicate with us so that we can discuss payment plans to help you through this time.
Rental Payments
For all tenants who have not contacted us regarding financial hardship due to loss of employment because of COVID-19, we ask that you continue to make your regular payments. We are continuing to send out arrears and breach notices per legislation unless you contact us to discuss your circumstances.
Hardship Process Rollout
In the coming days, we will be providing Hardship Forms for you to complete if you are impacted by COVID-19 restrictions that impact income so that we can work with you and the owners to find suitable solutions for each individual situation.
You can also contact the RTA for advice and contact Centrelink for financial assistance options.
Pure Real Estate Office Closure to the public
Just a reminder that the office is closed to the public. Our staff commenced work from home from today, Monday, 30 March 2020. Russell remains in the office at this time as our phone services are continuing with the urgent upgrade required.
We remain prepared to continue our services to you with minimal impact when we commence work from home.
RTA Advice
The RTA has a COVID-19 information box on their home page has now been updated with further information. This is on the RTA’s website as at 4:45pm on Monday, 30 March 2020:
On 29 March 2020, Australian governments met as the National Cabinet and announced that evictions will be put on hold for six months for residential and commercial tenancies affected by the financial impacts of COVID-19 with more information to come this week. The Queensland Government is working through ways to implement the Commonwealth Government’s proposed changes to rental arrangements as quickly as possible.
You can learn more about the proposed measures by:
We will update our website and eNews subscribers when more details become available.
The RTA encourages all parties in a tenancy to be understanding and reasonable in their dealings with each other, consider each situation individually, talk to each other to negotiate a suitable outcome, document any decisions made, and adhere to any government and/or health agency requirements.
If you are a public housing tenant, visit the Department of Housing and Public Works website. For the latest COVID-19 health updates, visit Queensland Health’s website. For details on the State Government’s economic relief package, please visit the Business Queensland website. For official Australian Government information and support in response to COVID-19, please visit Australia.gov.au.
Please note: Due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the RTA is currently experiencing longer wait times across our customer and support services. We thank you for your patience.
Smoke Alarm Testing
We have identified properties which require testing to be completed in the next 45 days and have arranged for them to be undertaken ASAP to make sure your properties remain compliant with legislation and safe for you.
The company we use has provided us with a COVID-19 action plan which you can see here: https://www.detectorinspector.com.au/covid-19/
COVID-19 Impact on Maintenance
If you have recently requested general repairs or maintenance that remains outstanding, please be aware that we are working to prioritise requests to manage high risk issues first in case of a complete shutdown.
We have emailed all our Contractors to request the following:
Working as a Team
In this challenging time, Pure Real Estate is committed to working with our people, owners, tenants and contractors, and the relevant authorities to listen, take advice and importantly, take decisive action to assist in preserving the health and wellbeing of our communities.
Our highest priority is the health and wellbeing of our people, our tenants and our communities.
We will provide further information when we have further direction from the Government. We look forward to working together to support you through this time.
Kind Regards
Russell Peter | Principal