Landlords should not be allowed to let their own properties

Landlords should not be allowed to let their own properties

21:50 PM, 17th August 2012, About 12 years ago 55

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Landlords should not be allowed to let their own properties

I’ve recently had a heated exchange of emails with a chap called Mike who’s opinion is that “landlords should not be allowed to let their own properties”. I invited him to produce an article as he set me a challenge and I wanted him to offer his challenge publicly to the readership of Property118. Mike refused on the basis that we are self interest group and went on to say that he doesn’t expect me to agree with him “because you have a vested interest and are biased”.  There’s nothing to stop me writing the article though and summarising the points he made and the gauntlet that he threw down which I refused to pick up unless it was in public forum.

I know Mike is an avid reader of Property118 and even though we had some heated exchanges and several fundamental differences of opinion I will not reveal his identity. He may however, wish to post on this thread – he is a regular poster here under the pseudonym “Industry Observer”.

Mike made some interesting remarks in his emails along the lines of:-

  • You can’t do an MOT on your own car just because you own it
  • You can’t sell pensions unless you are authorised
  • You can’t perform surgery unless you are qualified
So why are landlords allowed to let their own properties?

And to quote Mike word for word ….

“What chance have private Landlords got of getting it right? I don’t blame them but I do think tenants need protecting from it. Housing is just too important in my view.”

And when I pointed out that a landlord takes on a lot more risk when he hands over the keys to his property than a tenant does when he pays his first months rent and deposit Mike said ….

“Depends if the house is safe of course, whether you have had the gas boiler gas safe registered in the last 5 years, will come barging in when me and my missus are in bed (drunk and with a baseball bat in your hand etc etc) and so on. You get the picture? What risk anyway? The Law is on tenant’s side but only short term all cards are in LL hand in long game.”

This is the gauntlet that Mike threw down ….

“You are convinced any private Landlord should retain the right to let their property and manage it themselves with minimal intrusion and interference from outside. Fine – forget you are an expert and socially conscious and legally aware Landlord. You give me 6 good reasons why these other not their fault necessarily but unaware Landlords should be allowed to. If you get past 3 I will be impressed!!”

Below are some extracts from the emails and the points I made to counter Mike’s arguments. Note that I did not take up his challenge, I want the landlord community to do that because I suspect that as landlords we are going to have to deal with a lot more people like Mike in the not too distant future. Politicians and the mainstream press will no doubt encourage it as it makes for good reading and potential vote winning campaigns. As landlords we are considered to be soft targets. We must unite and fight back!

  1. Mike, what’s your definition of a competent letting agent? I’ve walked into several letting agents offices with a national presence which are members of ARLA, NALS, SAFEagent, RICS etc. and I have been greeted by completely incompetent clueless bimbo’s offering advice on lettings to both landlords and tenants. These firms operate in every City and most towns. How would you stop this?
  2. If a licence was no more expensive or difficult to obtain than a TV licence I think that would be fair. Then, when landlords are found guilty of the types of criminal activities you have described below the licence should be revoked. Lesser offences are already punishable by fines, e.g. no gas safety certificate or failure to protect a deposit etc. With regards to lesser offences, licencing of landlords could operate on a three strikes and you are out basis. If it was made illegal for mortgage lenders to lend to unlicensed landlords and for Courts to take possession of any let properties from unlicensed landlords and sell them at auction that would certainly cut out 90%+ of the problems don’t you agree? Trouble is, that’s the concept on which legislation is often first discussed, then the do good numpties in Whitehall start bolting stuff on like exams, compulsory CPD, submissions to regulators etc. and economies go into reverse thereafter very quickly in real terms, viz financial services as a result of the FSA.

So, who wants to be first to take up Mike’s challenge?

You give me 6 good reasons why these other not their fault necessarily but unaware Landlords should be allowed to. If you get past 3 I will be impressed”


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Comments

9:41 AM, 18th August 2012, About 12 years ago

No on the contrary I am always impressed by what Ben has to say and I would not take any issue with what Ben is suggesting.
I think good LL won't object to compulsory accreditation and the other things Ben suggests.
If it drives out crminal LL or ones that are not prepared to adhere to proper regulation and leaves a cadre of competent and qualified and motivated LL I wouldn't mind.
Tenants would have to pay more though as there would be less property around once the bad LL are got rid of.

Mary Latham

9:49 AM, 18th August 2012, About 12 years ago

Before we discuss solutions lets first identify the problems

·
Landlords entering a tenants home Willy Nilly

·
Landlords withholding tenants deposits unfairly

·
Landlords letting property that is not fit for
purpose

·
Landlords renting properties with dangerous or
poor boilers

·
Landlord renting rooms that are too small

·
Landlords renting properties with dangerous
electric systems

·
Landlords overcharging for utilities

·
Landlords not addressing repairs

·
Landlords overcrowding their properties

·
Landlords allowing illegal activities in their
properties

·
Landlords removing tenants from their properties
without a Court Order

·
Landlords intimidating tenants

These
are the main issues that I hear about and I agree that they need to be
addressed.

Will
someone please explain why the laws preventing all of the above are not being
used to stop these bad practices?
Everything on that list is illegal.
We do not need further regulation or legislation we need that which is
in place at the moment to be enforced.

As
a good landlord I resent that bad landlords are allowed to continue to trade
causing mistrust among tenants, local authorities and just about everyone
else. Bad landlords have a huge impact
on the lives of those people that they have chosen to house – why are they
allowed to continue?

In
a nutshell

·
First let’s see existing laws being enforced

·
If there is then need for further legislation or
regulation let’s ensure that it is used to raise standards not funds.

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

9:52 AM, 18th August 2012, About 12 years ago

When I read about accreditation I think of paperwork and exams. I don't have a problem with either but some landlords do. That doesn't make them bad landlords though. If they know the rules can can get help to complete the paperwork but they can't take that help into a classroom or an exam can they? A few years ago we commissioned a survey of 20,000 landlords who had arranged mortgages via The Money centre. To our surprise only 30% were ABC1's. 70% were red top newspaper readers and the largest group was construction industry workers. I don't want to stereotype too much but how many construction industry workers do you know who are good at paperwork and exams? They can be very good landlords though for obvious reasons, they are hard working and can easily fix most problems.

9:54 AM, 18th August 2012, About 12 years ago

Yes it would be interesting to know WHY the existing laws are NOT enforced..
Yout points though are absolutely correct.

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

10:08 AM, 18th August 2012, About 12 years ago

PS - the three strikes and you are out policy for no criminal breaches would mean that CPD would not need to be compulsory. If you break the speed limit in your car this afternoon you may be offered an opportunity to take a course to avoid points but it's not compulsory. Anybody with one or two strikes against them would be a complete numpty if they didn't consider landlord accreditation and CPD though as they would soon realise their livelihood and investments are on the line.

Industry Observer

9:22 AM, 18th August 2012, About 12 years ago

Maty you can always devolve or delegate responsibility and even authority but what you cannot delegate or indemnify against is accountability and ultimate legal accountability

10:24 AM, 18th August 2012, About 12 years ago

Hi Mark,
I agree that we should all be careful what we wish for ... and I certainly do not want to kill off the innocent landlord ... but I do want to get rid of the bad guys .. and there are plenty of bad guys to get rid of!

The irony and hypocrisy is that we advocate "SafeAgent", Client Money Protection, The Property Ombudsman for Letting, ARLA, NALS, RICS etc etc - to ensure that the Letting Agents and Estate Agents we use are correctly qualified, safe and regulated .....

Yet .... we take the complete opposite view when discussing whether landlords (ie: ourselves) should be subjected to any such regulation. That cannot be right - surely?

I think something needs to be done to regulate landlords.

I would like to see some form of licencing for landlords - perhaps mandatory membership of the NLA where members must attend at least 2 events a year to retain their membership ..... I would like to see the landlord's NLA membership number displayed on every tenancy agreement.....

I have jumped through numerous hoops to ensure my Lettings business is run in a professional and business like way - and I think landlords should approach their investments in the same manner.

If that means "I'm a turkey voting for christmas" ... then bring on the mince pies!

Mary Latham

10:25 AM, 18th August 2012, About 12 years ago

Accreditation based on education (the LLAS model that Ben is talking about) is fast becoming the norm. It is NOT about paperwork or exams it is about the REAL job of being a landlord. No one hates admin more than I do and therefore I have streamlined all of my admin with standard letters, documents etc. During an MLAS (Midlands version of LLAS) landlords, including myself share good practice, solutions, quick fixes etc and all of this prevents other landlords getting bogged down with the nitty gritty and allows them to get on with the important job of being in a PEOPLE business. Tenants will forgive a landlord for making a mistake if they know that is it is a genuine mistake and that at all other times that landlord is treating them with respect.
One of the things that I enjoy most about this business is the diversity of landlords and tenants. God help us if we ever get to the day when landlords need to be academics. People respecting other people works for me and for my tenants

Mary Latham

10:27 AM, 18th August 2012, About 12 years ago

Mike the Rugg Review DID NOT recommend landlord licensing. The Rugg Review recommended compulsory licensing of all letting agents plus a mandatory register of all private landlords.

Ben Reeve-Lewis

10:35 AM, 18th August 2012, About 12 years ago

Theres a simple answer to that question Mary. It comes down
to

Not enough staff

Not enough resources

The practicalities of enforcement action

The time it takes

Courts not taking it seriously

Police intervention making things worse.

The bureaucracy involved

Add to that how difficult it is to pin down dodgy landlords
and agents who use alias’s and dissolved companies and all sorts of other shenanigans.

I Know you always champion this approach Mary and I have
maximum respect for you but if you knew what it took to just address one single
problem in your list given the current legislation I feel you would think
licensing would be a good thing.

I say get rid of the existing legislation and just bring in
strong effective licensing

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