Landlords should not be allowed to let their own properties

Given the amount of poor agents around, individuals must be allowed to rent and manage their own properties. I'm a bad agent. It must be true because our MP said so in Parliament.
My daughter is in Cardiff where we are having ridiculous problems trying to get her deposit back. We went to dispute 12 months ago and won. It looks like the same is about to happen again plus I shall be suing the landlord for not protecting the deposit and not providing the right prescribed information. The agencies I have dealt with in Cardiff are quite simply fly by nights who see an opportunity to make a quick buck.
There is a problem where corporate agencies put poorly trained staff in front of house, their lack of knowledge is astounding. It is actually quite fun following them into a house just to hear how little they know but the firms have membership of ARLA etc, not the individuals.
Much as I would love to see all landlords being forced to use agents it is just not practical.
Its also fun dealing with soliciors acting for tenants who, being jacks of all trades, do not know landlord and tenancy law particularly well. I am not saying I know everything or do everything properly, but there is a great deal of mis-information out there.

Ben the accreditation schemes that are based on the LAS modle passport landlords from one scheme to another free of charge - they are not "vying to be the body of choice" and we don't expect landlords to pay twice or the same thing we just want all landlords who become accredited to be recognised whereever they let. MLAS is mdlands based, NLA is a ntional scheme but neither want to be "the scheme" just part of a national model delivered locally by landlords who know the patch.

Quite a few of my tenants have said that they much prefer to rent privately, ie NOT through an agent.

JUST STOP RIGHT THERE !!!

this Mike chap is taking you for a fool. creating an argument where none existed before.
do not even read this Mike's opinions.
the reasons I say this are obvious !!!!

WHO DRIVES YOUR CAR ? YOU DO
WHO LIVES WITH YOUR FAMILY ? YOU DO ( or at lease it should be )
WHO LIVES YOUR LIFE ? YOU DO !!

NOBODY NEEDS SOME ARGUMENTATIVE IDIOT TO TELL YOU HOW TO RUN YOUR LIFE.
HOW TO RUN YOUR BUSINESS NOR HOW TO BREATH.

I would not take such abuse from my wife....let alone from some stranger.

you do your best. that's all. and if it's not good enough for the Mikes of this world....then you cannot help him.

politely tell him to p*** off.

this Mike does not have to buy from your shop. he can go elsewhere.

there are bad landlords just as there is bad tenants, bad doctors, bad politicians, bad policemen, bad builders, bad mechanics, the list is as long as the ' good ' one.

you don't send your car to an agency mechanic just in case you get a bad mechanic.
afterall, the agency mechanic could end up as the bad one ! then what !!

the very same argument could be used for every walk of life, creating multiple levels of indifference.

delete his opinions from your mind. he is not worthy of comment.

Mike - you are behind the curve so far as Scotland is concerned. As a landlord in Scotland I must periodically register myself and my properties with each local authority in which I let and undergo a crimal records check to prove that I am a fit and proper person to let property. Should I engage in the type of activity Mark Alexander quotes you as saying I can be be barred from letting property, on pain of criminal conviction if I do. For failings short of the criminal behaviour you describe, such as letting a sub-standard property or failing to discharge my other responsibilities as landlord, the tenant can be ordered not to pay rent until my failings have been rectified. Again, persistent failure will see me disqualified from letting property.

Satisfied???

It would seem that the Scottish way of doing thing over the English way has many things to commend itself.
Perhaps a review of the way Scotland does things as it maybe a useful blueprint guide as to what England may do.
I can't see as there is much difference between an English LL and a Scottish LL!?
However it is a general truism that good LL will register for schemes etc and bad ones won't.
Govt does not have the time or money to find all the iunregistered LL and all their properties.
It would take about 35 years!

That we even assume (as so many have here) that we can put the letting of our OWN house (that is to say as a landlord we kindly LET someone occupy our own territory in return for some money naturally) in the same bracket as the internal workings of the human body, high speed transport and stocks&shares/annuities management under FSA control, in the first place, shows what a good job the powers 'that be' have done in clouding people's minds by the acceptance of initiation rules. Hmm. Let's see now, shall we now make things easier for say social services (after all that is the modern authoratative objective to make things easier to suit themselves) and declare that we all have to have a parenting license to own/keep our children to cover themselves and save them having to do 'post' checks, be allowed out at night in areas where there are no CCTV cameras only if we are on the higher rate of the new daily government payments scheme and marked as a good citizens and if so, be able to collect points which on totalling 14 we will be able to have our passports for 2 weeks and be allowed to spend our money actually outside our own country. Or shall we 'get real' accept life is life, remove big brother's testicles (his power source) with an unqualified surgeon naturally and let me have continue to have access to the wallets of all lessers citizens than myself without any boring control freaks or freakees (the ones who actually feel better sub-conciously when they are being controlled) swimming in my free space. Imagine there's no countries (Mr JL)

I completely agree that most agents in the UK are not that professional - I experienced it both as tenant some years ago now and now as landlord. To be honest, as landlord I would prefer to hand the responsibility to a decent, professional and knowledgeable agent. BUT, reality is that most collect rent only without much customer service. The UK market is ripe for professional residential letting agents.

As I work extensively in the commercial property market I know the difference and for that reason my wife and I decided to manage our properties ourselves. It does take some commitment to ensure it is done correctly but tenant feedback has been really positive. I think I speak for the majority of landlords by saying that we are not out to scam tenants out of money - we expect to receive rent for the properties we let out. It is a business activity and the rental income reflects the risk we take (putting cash into your bank account may be less risky, hence the return is lower etc). There will always be 'rogue' landlords and they are the ones unlikely to register.

If additional regulations are introduced then this will ultimately increase costs - these costs will be passed on to tenants one way or another so just make it more expensive to rent. In the current economic environment we need stimuli not additional red tape to encourage entrepreneurship and growth.

Hi, I'm new to the site but feel I can comment on this, I manage all three of my flats, I advertise on Gumtree, show people round the flats, explain what I do as a landlady ie any problem with the flat sorted within 24 hours, a well looked after flat, rent paid late because of personal problems. I then explain what I expect from a tenant ie rent paid on time, property looked after, no upsetting the neighbours (who have my phone number to ring if there is a problem) and that I have a cousin who is built like a brick ****house and if there are any problems they are out, no section 21, no courts, I all so explain I will not pay any fines and that I'm so busy I would welcome six months doing nothing in prison, also that I would contact every newspaper, name and shame them so no-one would ever rent to them again. So far a young tenant has done a runner owing a months rent and having let his two dogs use the flat as a toilet and I've had to explain to a noisy young neighbour of one of my tenants that it wasn't a good idea to keep having parties and disturbing my tenant! I used to be really nice and quiet until I got into BTL but there again you shouldn't mess with a woman in her late 40s - it's the hormones you see! Having said all this I've had tenants ring me to see if I've any more properties to let as their friends are interested and other tenants that have been with me for years.

The Scottish way succceeded in adding something like £15m of license fees to the costs of tenants in the first few years in return for the benefit of a single digit no of landlords who lost their licenses.

Having said that, Sir Robin Wails' fees in Newham will be about 10 times higher for no discernable benefit whatsoever.