President Trump and the regulatory burden!

COUNCILS CAN BECOME VERY SUSPICIOUS OF A GOOD TENANT AND LANDLORD RELATIONSHIP AND SOMETIMES THINK THEY HAVE JOINTED FORCES TO CON THEM

Larry

I feel embarrassed as I am one of the moaning landlords who feels powerless in the face of this regulation onslaught and the media & political assault against us.

Great and succinct comment, when do we march on Westminster?

Regards Jamie

Larry, you are absolutely correct.

However, part of the problem in mobilising landlords into action is the fact that huge numbers of us in the PRS are accidental, reluctant or part-time landlords. Many have 'day' jobs, many have inherited single or small numbers of rental properties, many (myself included) have had to turn elderly relatives homes into rentals in order to meet exhorbitant care fees for 'looking after' our sick relatives. There is no way I could pay the £3,000 a month it costs to have my father looked after (he has Alzheimers). In addition, many turned to the PRS as a way of enhancing their pension funds because there was little or no growth in the pensions market. Yet again, this government has displayed its never ending hypocracy by encouraging people to ensure they 'look after themselves in their old age' (because the government certainly won't) and then 'pulling the rug' from under those that have done exactly that.

I dont believe the government onslaught will end anytime soon, nor will the current burden on landlords be reduced. I have taken the decision to sell my 5 rental properties and I know many other small or part-time landlords who are doing the same.

The effect of this will of course reduce the numbers of rental properties available, drive up rents and the poorest will be even harder hit. The government knows this, but doesn't give a s**t.

Chaos will ensue and the PRS will be blamed as usual.

Nothing changes!

It's ingrained within our culture. We 'love' a good, "Awwwwwwhhhhhmmmmmmmm.....I'm telling on you!" because one person feels empowered over another person that has broken some obscure legislation.

Our legal system, the bastion of good governance and justice is full of obscurities and essentially what keeps solicitors and barristers in work. The more complication the better...or so those in charge like to think.

At local authority level, councils are full of nobodies -failed business people or those that couldn't achieve any kind of standing within other companies. Now they wield officialdom over those they despise, clever entrepreneurs (with businesses/livelihoods to protect) whom have what they want...money (or at least that's the perception). They conveniently ignore the part about the massive risks landlords take. They're not playing with their money, or their jobs, so can be flippant in their application of the rules.

I believe it boils down to accountability. This is basic human behaviour of misusing entrusted control. The Police had to reined in, in 1984 with the introduction of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. Councils also hold many powers (in fact, even some Police powers have been devolved to LAs) but with almost no accountability or proper auditability.

The question is, what do we do? because if we don't do anything then this assault will ruin most of us eventually.

Plan A
Promote the landlords union on all your paperwork or

Plan B.
all of us become Muslim clerics and plead religious discrimination!

No instant fix, but you can only eat an elephant one piece at a time!

Reply to the comment left by "Jamie Moodie" at "25/01/2017 - 12:49":

Sell up and move out. I'm mid-30s and have already decided I won't live long enough to see change. We are much less politically polarised and like to believe we are a little more discerning than our US cousins, so fail -every single time- to unite behind one party. UKIP's the one to do it, regardless of your agreement with their policies (that's partly where we go wrong...by reading and making decisions based on policies, that we believe is the correct and proper way to conduct oneself when casting your vote, but it's not) because they will cause a stir and bring about unprecedented change at the top. Make the usual suspects sit up and take notice. I personally don't think Nuttall's the man for the job, but I still want to create waves, so would back UKIP. I have seen on here similar musings from other disillusioned landlords, but can't bring themselves to vote UKIP and start to flirt with the idea of voting the Green Party, because all of a sudden they've taken a great interest in manifestos.

I'll let you into a little secret...manifestos don't mean ****. There's no penalty for ignoring them once elected. And we're too stupid to remember come the next election.

UKIP can't be any worse than what we have. And if they are, we can always revert back to the same **** that we have now.

Firstly ,Thank you to everybody who has contributed so far.
In My article I actually omitted to allude to the "Right to Rent" Legislation forcing us to do the Job that the border agency and Home office have failed to do ,despite wasting millions of tax payer"s monies .We are now unpaid Border guards liable to criminal prosecution.
What we need to do ,is to make ourselves heard.
I would urge every contributor ,every landlord, to email the Housing Minister calling for the repeal of legislation.
Email gavin.barwell.mp@parliament.uk.
I would also urge all landlords to email their local MP. When a campaign sends hundreds of emails to elected representatives ,they do take notice. This is how lobbying actually works.
Luke mentions UKIP, and I do not wish to lecture anybody as to how to vote, but The Tory Party has let the PRS down very badly. Labour /Corbyn are not fit for purpose so we need to teach the Tories a lesson. The Green party is definitely not the answer.
With respect to issues on the ground, such as Inspections, Once again I urge landlords to explain to tenants, that any rent increases coming, are as a result of the regulatory burden and associated costs. When Mr Council comes a knocking with his clip board for an inspection, Let us sit back and watch him being sent on his merry way NOT by the landlord but by the tenant.
Question every point with Local authorities and do so by email to ensure an audit trail, Film all property inspections, and let us get this campaign underway. If every contributor, reader Landlord and family member emailed Mr Barwell the housing minister and told him to freeze all Licensing by Councils, Mr Barwell could end up with 5000 emails in his inbox. That is just to start with. Landlords with section 24 and the other Regs ,I have referred to are being driven out of business and those who remain are taxed to death.

I've been in this business for almost 15 years and the burden of regulation keeps growing - now at what seems like an exponential rate. To have to serve all the documentation required in hard copy at the start of a tenancy is madness, a link to the appropriate site/document should be enough - the idea of Universal Credit is to give people control over their lives and take responsibility, why not let them take SOME of the responsibility for informing themselves about their rights and responsibilities? Using the DPS I have to print off 18 pages of waffle to present to the tenant and get him to sign a copy for me - how is that good for the environment? Why isn't an electronic copy good enough?

Government is very good at telling us what to do, but not so keen to help out on the ' how to ' . e.g. I agree with the 2018 EPC rating changes, but try getting a Victorian solid walled property with no gas supply up to an 'E' rating or above. Better still try asking Defra ( is it still Defra?)for guidance.

Landlord licensing, DPS paperwork, rental guides and now I'm a border guard too - the only difference between me and someone who is employed as a border guard is that I have to do it for nothing and can go to jail if I get it wrong. Maybe drug dealing and prostitution would be a simpler way to make a living - at least if I kept my head down ( no pun intended ) I'd be left alone to get on with the job.