FAO Shelter – This is not a love note from The Landlord Crusader

FAO Shelter – This is not a love note from The Landlord Crusader

12:17 PM, 11th November 2022, About A year ago 56

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It’s a good job I was sitting down when I read a striking story on Property118 this week because it would normally have knocked me off my feet otherwise.

Was it, I hear you ask, the Government announcing that their Rent Reform white paper is nonsense and will be ditched? Nope. Was it the prospect of Section 21 being retained? Nope.

It was much, much better than that. It was someone from Shelter asking the Government to step in and stop landlords from leaving the private rental sector.

That’s right. Someone from the homeless charity that doesn’t actually house anyone was urging action to stop landlords from leaving the PRS.

I had to read it twice before my brain would believe it.

Fed-up landlords leaving the PRS

This is what the quote in the story about fed-up landlords account for 16% of property sales said:

However, with so many landlords leaving the sector, homeless charity Shelter says the impact will be felt most by those on low incomes.

Ruth Jacob, the charity’s policy expert at the charity, urged the Government to act.

She told the Telegraph: “We’re already seeing a severe shortage of affordable homes to rent for people on the lowest incomes and that’s already leaving more and more people at risk of homelessness.”

There’s nothing on their website about this, though I did see Shelter’s chief executive officer Polly Neate on BBC Breakfast warning that there is an issue of people over the age of 65 not living in council accommodation or owning their own home.

Instead, they stand a good chance ‘at their time of life’ of being made homeless because landlords are leaving the PRS.

Why landlords are leaving

Again, the interviewer didn’t ask the killer question about why landlords are leaving.

Polly did though get to plug that 5% of sales from M&S’s Festive Food on the Move range will help fund Shelter’s hotline.

So, to all you landlord haters and vocal supporters of Shelter, let me spell out for you what is going on.

Shelter (and the likes of Generation Rent) have been working for years to reduce landlord rights to the benefit of tenants.

The vilification has been unbearable – and it is getting worse.

We must be the only group of people you can discriminate against and criticise without any comeback.

Working out whether it’s worth carrying on

This, along with rising interest rates, rising mortgage rates, more legislation and reduced profits (yes, Shelter, we need to make money) means landlords are working out whether it’s worth carrying on.

So, while the Gas Safety checks and improved electrical checks are worthy, things like growing numbers of council licensing schemes are not and they only push up costs. Those costs have to be met by someone.

And not all landlords are evil, exploiting property so poor people pay for landlords to sleep on pillows filled with £50 notes.

If only.

Instead, landlords are deciding in increasing numbers that it is no longer worth the time and hassle of providing homes anymore.

Private landlords keen to offer shelter

Don’t get me wrong, there will always be private landlords keen to offer shelter (see what I did there?) to those who are homeless or in need.

But – and it’s important that you understand this point – section 21 means we can remove tenants who don’t pay rent or make their neighbours’ lives a misery, from our homes – but its proposed abolition (which you support) means we will find it even harder to remove rogue tenants.

For other landlords, the prospect of having to meet an EPC rating of C by 2025 (still not a legal requirement yet) is the final straw for them.

Others just want to get out, so they don’t have to be hounded by the likes of Shelter and Generation Rent.

And when landlords sell, it is usually to a homebuyer and not another landlord, so the property won’t be rented out again.

We understand this.

And now it appears you do too.

Urging the government to stop landlords from selling up

This is a shame because urging the government to stop landlords from selling up is like the boy who cried wolf. You can’t denigrate and undermine landlords for years and then say ‘Whoa! Why are landlords leaving? There won’t be homes to rent. Something must be done…’.

It’s too late. You have made a bed you don’t like and if you think it’s bad now – wait until next year when landlords have to remortgage at monster rates and see how many pack it in then.

And if they don’t leave, I can guarantee a stampede to the door marked exit if Section 21 is abolished.

You have never talked to us. We have always been the bad guys. Most of us want to provide quality homes for tenants that are safe and secure.

I for one am sick of landlords being not only ignored but victimised for offering tenants somewhere to live and being blamed for it.

Selling off council houses and not building new ones is where the issue lies with our current housing catastrophe – and that’s down to EVERY government since Thatcher, NOT landlords.

But then, if we had more social housing, you wouldn’t be needed. And the day you close your doors will be a great day for housing in this country – and a really great day for landlords everywhere.

Until next time,

The Landlord Crusader


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Comments

Old Mrs Landlord

18:00 PM, 12th November 2022, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Bos Tin at 11/11/2022 - 13:58
However, the article iin the Telegraph from which this post is taken does say that Ruth Jacobs "called upon the Government to act". As she is talking about lack of PRS housing for the poorest, I expect the Government action she was angling for was an increase in housing benefit rates, rather than a break specifically for private landlords .

Thepissedofflandlord

8:57 AM, 14th November 2022, About A year ago

Those greedy selfish landlords again selling properties (often at a loss) to save their money. HOW DARE THEY. This stupid government has boxed landlords into a corner and now selling up is viewed as fighting back and not capitulation. Shelter and gen rent just cannot respect the fact that we are a service industry. We are here to serve folk.
I actually have respect for the Sally Army, I know they have a religious agenda but at least they recognise that the solution lies in behavioural changes of their beneficiaries and not bashing landlords.

The Forever Tenant

12:52 PM, 14th November 2022, About A year ago

It's one of those things that the most visible of the people in the industry are going to be the ones that are setting the agenda for the others.

The actions of Property Gurus saying how much money they make with rental property, or Landlords with hundreds of properties showing public discrimination do not help the cause.

I often find that legislation and regulation are in reaction to situations brought on by those most visible. Pretty much all legislation over the past 15 years (save for section 24) was in reaction to the situation of tenants being negatively affected by the actions of particular landlords.

These reactions then just led to further reactions from others who wanted to protect their income and from a tenant side of things, we are completely powerless to have an affect on either side of this issue.

It's an issue that in the public eye, there are far too many people out there saying that property is a get rich quick scheme. With that, tenants can only see what is going on with their own experience. So if lots of Landlords want to issue Section 21's en masse or raise rents to the most they can, then it can only be expected that the public perception of landlords will decrease even further.

I'm not sure how the good word about what Landlords do can get out there. But I hope that something is found because at the rate things are going, we are heading to a situation to which I dread the outcome on both sides.

Mike T

18:03 PM, 14th November 2022, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Just A Queen at 11/11/2022 - 12:52
Know how you feel. We have removed 4 houses from the much maligned PRS. Sorry to see them go but with everything loaded against you Why o why should one stay ? .

Mike T

18:27 PM, 14th November 2022, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Sam Addison at 11/11/2022 - 14:29
the directors are safe I bet.

12:31 PM, 15th November 2022, About A year ago

It's now become automatic for any housing problem - landlords are wrong / evil. Tenants are always right / saintly and helpless.

Tragically this upsetting story illustrates this. It looks like the Landlord (housing Association) was constantly trying to fix a problem which they never could because it was outside of their control. There was mould so automatically everyone thinks to get the Landlord to fix it. Pictures show a modern block in good condition. No leaks could be found from weather or plumbing because there was none. The moisture came from the tenants themselves. Coroner recorded lack of ventilation as a contributory factor to the death. The simple solution that no one will mention was someone needed to tell the tenant to open a window and ventilate the property. We can't move forwards unless we accept that it is NOT always the Landlords fault.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11393535/Pictured-damp-mould-inside-home-two-year-old-boy-lived-tragic-death.html

Anne Nixon

19:54 PM, 15th November 2022, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Roanch21 at 15/11/2022 - 12:31Polly Neate took the opportunity to give interviews today pointing out that PRS properties are even worse for damp than social housing ones.
The woman is relentless.

ellis freeman

8:37 AM, 19th November 2022, About A year ago

I made the observation recently on a council, landlord forum zoom call where a representative of I believe the Nrla was online, that in 2016, the housing minister wrote to all councils telling them not to tell tenants to wait for the balliffs as the end result is the same, homelessness, when an eviction notice is given this makes the tenant homeless, so why are councils ignoring this, do we have a legal right to use this letter against the councils

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

13:46 PM, 19th November 2022, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by ellis freeman at 19/11/2022 - 08:37
I remember that too.

The letter must be a matter of public record, do you have a copy or would you know where to start to get one?

Perhaps we can persuade Ben Beadle to lobby the new Housing Minister to send a reminder to all Councils?

ellis freeman

18:08 PM, 19th November 2022, About A year ago

You can Google it

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