We need to wake up and smell the coffee!

We need to wake up and smell the coffee!

9:04 AM, 20th November 2018, About 5 years ago 88

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It is easy in life to think that you as one person can make little difference – wrong.

Shopping in B&Q for example!

You spend a few or a few hundred pounds on materials for your rented house – possibly one which has been wrecked by rogue tenants. You get to the counter and see B&Q have their little collection boxes just past the till for Shelter, an organisation which constantly hammers landlords and seems to think we are the rogues. This is something we might have unthinkingly ignored.

Well the Landlords Alliance has now begun a campaign to shake us out of this apathy.

We should not  give our money to organisations which support those whose mission seems to be to destroy our businesses and livelihoods; whose latest campaign is to get us to house tenants on benefits whether we like it or not, whether they can afford it or not, whether they make riskier tenants or not – whilst housing no-one themselves.

No. We need to wake up and smell the coffee.

So I for one, have withdrawn my custom from B&Q as of today.

I ask them to instead donate to a positive charity which they can be proud of supporting.

There are an estimated 2 million landlords in the UK who with their families and also the people who work for them and shop at B&Q have tremendous consumer power.

I urge other landlords to make the pledge today: ‘I will not shop at B&Q until they confirm they have stopped giving money to Shelter’.

 

The New Landlords Alliance is launched: Click Here


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Comments

Bill

9:00 AM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

I notice Shelter is peddling outright lies about providing homes in their current advert on UK tv.I would like to report to the advertising standards authority, but as I do not live in the UK, I do not think a complaint from me would be accepted. Anyone else on this forum seen the advert?

Thomas Whitfield

9:14 AM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

selco are offering free delivery on all online orders at the moment!

AJ

9:29 AM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Bill Williams at 24/11/2018 - 09:00
Do you have a link to an online version, I am happy to complain to the relevant authority.

Bill

9:39 AM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by AJ at 24/11/2018 - 09:29
Sorry no, just happened to see the ad when tuned to UK tv, think it was Quest.

Mr Barua

12:04 PM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

Hi All!
RLA promotes TradePoint (B&Q's trade arm) to its members. Recently TradePoint changed its preferential terms policy and I am not sure if their terms are beneficial to smaller landlords like me. Now to see TradePoint supporting an organisation whose fundraising campaigns rely on vilifying landlord and generalising all landlord is very disappointing.
But it also concerns me to see RLA is promoting and advertising TradePoint membership to its landlord members, for example, in the adverts of the recent issue of RPI magazine (published by RLA). I have written again to the Chairman (alan.ward@rla.org.uk) and editor (sally.walmsley@rla.org.uk) expressing my concerns. I highlighted while RLA raises and publishes concerns about Shelter, it promotes organisations that support Shelter.
Perhaps we should consider contacting organisations like RLA too (who are expected to represent landlords) to express our concerns as landlords.

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

12:31 PM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mr Barua at 24/11/2018 - 12:04
Do it

Norfolkngood

12:34 PM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

What B&Q and M&S and others do, in the idea for helping to prevent homelessness is without doubt a worthy cause.
They are not really the problem. The issue is where they are directing the money.

Shelter has a very good name as far as marketing goes. The Salvation Amy and the (Shamed) The Red Cross and are also very well know but they name badge don’t not suggest anywhere near as good or as specialised as Shelter.

Perhaps we should be making the effort to seek out and local or national charities or even business that really do provide help for those in need and help them to help themselves to get on the feet, and aim to focus these major (or any) contributors to direct their charity funding to these instead of Shelter.

If Any if these were to pay off some of my tenants debts this would definatley save them from being evicted. It’s not like I don’t try to help them myself, I have offered one guy £50 per hour credit to clear up leaves.

Hats off to Larry Sweeney; I look forward to receiving my membership details.
CB

Mr Barua

13:09 PM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mark Alexander at 24/11/2018 - 12:31
I have done it, and I would encourage others to do that too.

Dave Stanger

13:35 PM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mr Barua at 24/11/2018 - 13:09
Sent an email to M&S telling them as a longstanding customer I would no longer be shopping at M&S until they stop supporting the "amazing charity" Shelter. This is their reply

Good afternoon David

Thanks for getting in touch - I'm sorry you're disappointed in our decision to support Shelter.

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through their advice, support and legal services. We've supported Shelter in the past and are again this year, with 5% of Sales (not Profit) on selected items, going to the charity. Last year we raised over £600,000 for Shelter through our support and we do plan on increasing this figure this year.

I am sorry to hear that you're disappointed by this and I've reported your feedback to our charity management team, under the reference above. I can't promise that anything will change as we don't currently have any plans to not support the charity, but our teams will certainly consider everything going forward.

Thanks again for getting in touch about this David, have a lovely weekend.

Best wishes,

Rebecca Ashley
Retail Customer Services
Your M&S Customer Service

They have lost a customer who probably spends £200 a month in their store.

Annie Landlord

16:03 PM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Dave Stanger at 24/11/2018 - 13:35
But I doubt that will worry them, as they would lose far more if they changed track and told Joe Public they were going to support private landlords rather than a housing charity. Nothing will happen.
On the B&Q/Tradepoint front, the cards we had via NLA/RLA, which saved us quite a lot of money on some items, are now worthless. I think that goes to show that neither B&Q nor Tradepoint think any loss of business from the landlord sector is worth worrying about

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