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Renters Experiencing Hardship During Coronavirus Outbreak Will Be Looked After, Says Scott Morrison

Renters Experiencing Hardship During Coronavirus Outbreak Will Be Looked After, Says Scott Morrison

The states and territories are working out a plan to help those who find they can't pay their rent during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

People who rent their home in Australia and experience hardship during the coronavirus pandemic will be looked after.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the states and territories are working together to come up with a plan to assist those who might lose their job or income during the Covid-19 outbreak.

During a press conference, Mr Morrison said: "Further work will be done on identifying how relief can be provided for tenants in both commercial and residential tenancies to ensure that in hardship conditions, there will be relief available.

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"That work will be done by states and territories, as it is a state and territory matter, and that work will be led by Western Australia, together with New South Wales, working with all the other states and territories, to bring back some model that can be applied in hardship cases.

"I will allow the states to take the lead on this because they've been doing a lot of the work."

The Prime Minister has warned the coronavirus outbreak will hit some people hard.

Self-isolating for two weeks or more will cause many people to lose their jobs or their income and many small businesses will lose money from the decreased foot traffic in public.

vagawi (Flickr)

But, there has been a lifeline thrown to small businesses in the form of loan repayments.

Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh has announced a new measure to allow small enterprises to defer their loan repayments for six months.

"This is a multi-billion dollar shot in the arm for businesses that need it the most," Ms Bligh said.

"Businesses are doing it very tough...but rest assured, banks have got your back. This package is for small businesses which today have the most urgent and critical need.

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"If they start to see any critical need in other areas like mortgages they know they will have to look at that."

"There are other small businesses that may need access to more working capital, may be able to take on more borrowings to help them and their employees get through it.

"If a small business needs to take on more borrowings, then they should also be talking to their banks. There is money there to lend to those who can take on more debt."

When asked what clarifies as a small business, Ms Bligh said the banks will know who their customers are and will be able to help where they can.

Featured Image Credit: vagawi (Flickr)

Topics: News, coronavirus, Australia