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16:20 PM, 11th December 2014, About 9 years ago 47
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Both landlords and tenants have rights.
At Property118 we provide FREE help for landlords and tenants in dispute. Perhaps more importantly though, our impartial mediation seeks win/win solutions for both landlords and tenants. Please don’t risk cutting off your nose to spite your face – read on.
Very few landlords are outright criminals but sadly, crooks can be found operating in every sector.
We want to help YOU!
To find out why and how please keep reading.
Coming from somebody like me, a landlord myself, the above probably sounds a bit strange or even far fetched. However, like most GOOD Landlords, I am frustrated at how landlords in general are so often demonised by media and propaganda organisations. Some of the worst offenders have been housing charities!
Worse still, I despise organisations who promote and relish in conflict, and profit off the backs of other peoples misery.
Neither landlords nor tenants want legal battles, so why do so many organisations strive to build a “them and us” culture?
Surely it’s better to be solution conscious?
No tenant deserves to be robbed of their deposit or illegally evicted, I think that’s a fair starting point for us all.
By the same token, no GOOD Landlord wants their hard work and investments to be governed by unnecessary additional red tape and bureaucracy.
Sadly, when extremist organisations get their way, and when more legislation is introduced, this results in rent rises to fund the additional costs of compliance. In extreme cases this can lead to less availability of quality rental property, e.g. landlords choosing not to invest further, or even disinvest in some areas (Newham in London is a classic example).
Tenants don’t want more red tape, bureaucracy and costs any more than landlords do, hence we must look for solutions together.
GOOD Landlords like me are happy to help tenants who have been unjustly victimised. Together we have an opportunity to put things right and perhaps even put some of the bad guys and the criminals out of business, and of course teach those who are naive and/or greedy their responsibilities.
Wherever possible, we prefer to help landlords and tenants to patch up their differences amicably. Only in the most extreme cases will we recommend legal action.
Here at Property118, landlords who subscribe to our forums have helped several tenants by providing them with free advice and, where appropriate, we have even introduced tenants to specialist solicitors, some of which will even consider taking on cases on a no-win-no-fee basis.
Property118 was created to facilitate the sharing of best practice amongst UK landlords, tenants and letting agents. The GOOD Landlords Campaign was created to raise the necessary funding to pursue this mission.
So here’s my proposal …..
Tell me your story by completing the form below and I will personally look into your case and do all that I can to help you.
I ask just three things of you by way of return:-
1) That you give me permission to publish your story on a no names basis
2) That if I provide you with assistance you let me know how you get on
3) That you will consider making a donation to Property118. This will help us to continue to provide this service for others in your position – see >>> http://www.property118.com/donations/43590/
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Dr Rosalind Beck
9:47 AM, 16th December 2014, About 9 years ago
I don't agree with victim-blaming on principle. Thus, if a landlord is conned I don't blame the landlord. If someone is burgled I don't blame the person who may have left a small window open. If someone is raped, I don't ask why they let that man into their house etc. etc.
But I do have an answer of sorts to the question of why we let this person is. My husband recognised her surname and it turned out he knew her mother, who had been friends with his friend's mother years ago, 'up the valleys.' He thought the mother was a nice and trustworthy person and the tenant said her mother would be guarantor but she couldn't sign until the next week as she was on holiday (of course she never then signed). The tenant also appeared to be charming and well-dressed and said all the right things. I don't blame myself for trusting someone. You get nowhere in business without trust. Is my builder stupid for doing the work on my rental house and expecting payment afterwards? Should he have insisted on payment upfront? Then, would I be stupid to have given him some money before any work was done? Trust is integral to business but unfortunately people with no scruples abuse that trust. The target of all ire should be directed at them and never at their victims.
Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118
10:16 AM, 16th December 2014, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Robert Mellors" at "16/12/2014 - 09:32":
Hi Rob
I will stick to my average properties and nice tenants thanks.
If I can't find a decent tenant, with a guarantor where appropriate, I think I'd rather suffer a void period or sell up.
My average rental yield based on current values is probably only around 6% but at least I get the money and very little hassle. My rental yield based on the cost for the properties I purchased many years ago is over 30% in in some cases capital appreciation over 25 years is approaching 500%.
I applaud what you do but it's not for me, I've been down South for most of my life now so I'm too much of a softy to deal with the stuff you do.
I've watched Benefits Britain on the TV and that's about as close to it as I ever want to get thanks.
.
Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118
10:27 AM, 16th December 2014, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "AA Properties Wales " at "16/12/2014 - 09:39":
Hi Kevin
It sounds to me like you have opted for a high risk high return lettings strategy. Either that or you purchased the wrong properties in the wrong area. Either way, you reap as you sow my friend so don't expect the world to bail you out when things go wrong.
We all make choices and all choices have consequences. I can never understand why people who buy cheap houses near to airports then complain about aircraft noise. I can't understand why tenants rent crappy properties and then complain that they live in a crappy property and I can't understand why people let to crappy tenants and then complain when they trash the place or don't pay.
I totally realise I'm setting myself up for a bashing here so bring it on. Call me a snob, tell me I don't live in the real world. However, remember that I came from a working class family in a crappy area of the West Midlands and that it was my CHOICE to take control of my life and my environment. There have been plenty of sacrifices along the way which many people would not choose to make for themselves. Nevertheless, I genuinely believe that for fit and healthy people our personal circumstances are a product of our own mindset, values and actions.
.
Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118
10:36 AM, 16th December 2014, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Rosalind " at "16/12/2014 - 09:47":
Hi Rosalind
Something my wife taught me - "trust but verify" - Доверяй, но проверяй - Doveryay, no proveryay
It's an old KGB saying but it serves me well as a landlord.
.
Dr Rosalind Beck
10:38 AM, 16th December 2014, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "16/12/2014 - 10:27":
'Nevertheless, I genuinely believe that for fit and healthy people our personal circumstances are a product of our own mindset, values and actions.'
Mark, I think you need to examine that philosophical position. It's not tenable. What about all the suffering people in the world? Did they bring it on themselves?
Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118
10:44 AM, 16th December 2014, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Rosalind " at "16/12/2014 - 10:38":
I am not speaking for the whole world Rosalind, I am talking about all the fit and healthy people who are lucky enough to live in an established and civilised economy such as the UK.
Those who are not fit and healthy should receive better support from the state.
Those who are fit and healthy should have greater incentives to change their lives for the better and become a productive part of the economy.
.
Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118
11:10 AM, 16th December 2014, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Rosalind " at "16/12/2014 - 10:38":
Now turning to the rest of the world, if we all do our bit we can make a real difference.
For my part I decided to fund clean water wells in Africa, 32 so far!
My contribution will not change the world but it will change lives and save lives.
.
Monty Bodkin
11:23 AM, 16th December 2014, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Robert Mellors" at "16/12/2014 - 09:44":
"So you think landlords letting to DSS tenants should charge more so as to mitigate their risks? So do I, however, the government disagrees and won’t even pay Housing Benefit at the average market rent, let alone at a higher rent, so where does this extra rent (to mitigate risks) come from????"
It comes from letting out a property in the lowest 10th percentile at the price of the 30th percentile* in order to reflect the higher risk.
*I know it's now drifting down from the 30th percentile but I use it for the purposes of illustration.
Robert M
20:42 PM, 16th December 2014, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Monty Bodkin" at "16/12/2014 - 11:23":
That condemns the unfortunate, the sick, the disabled, to a life living in the lowest 10th percentile of properties, and gives landlords no incentive to improve the properties or services. Most of the properties I let are probably in the lowest 20th percentile in terms of purchase price for the area, but that is down to the area, rather than the quality or size of the house itself. Also, the services I provide to residents is above and beyond what most landlords provide, but there is no financial reward for being a good landlord or for improving the quality of the properties.
Robert M
20:56 PM, 16th December 2014, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "16/12/2014 - 10:27":
Even if someone chooses a high risk letting strategy, or has made a mistake and bought the wrong property in the wrong area, that does not mean that there should be no remedy when things do go wrong. That is very different to expecting someone else to bail them out, as you put it.
I would also add that many many DSS tenants are good honest people who, for a very wide variety of reasons, may need Housing Benefit to help them pay the rent (as do many working people), so to dismiss them all as "crappy tenants" is out of order. Yes, some of them do turn out to be "crappy tenants" (and many are excellent tenants), but the crappy ones do not come for the viewing with "crappy tenant" tattooed on their foreheads (other things perhaps!!!!) so it is not always easy to sort the good ones from the bad ones. Some of my best tenants are ones which look the roughest, and some of the crappy ones have looked like perfect tenants, and yes I know you will say "get references" or get them referenced, but when it comes to DSS tenants, such references are virtually worthless.