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S S

DIrector

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About Me

Love Property

my expertise in the industry

20 years

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Well, a fine of £3,000 - that's going to really deter a rogue landlord. 13 tenants, I imagine that fine is probably less than one month's rent. Even if he was "helping" tenants by overcrowding - it's not allowed and if the property was managed by a professional letting agency (qualified and regulated) then these situations just would not happen.

From: S S 25 March 2024 10:56 AM

I hope that the fines are actually paid BUT it's not good that it takes 14 years to get to court. During that time the Landlords continued to rent the property. Continued to treat the tenants with distain. Original breach was in 2010 - Assume that they average over 14 years £1000 per month rent with no voids. Over the ten year period - they have received income of £1.176M. The fine is actually £350k with costs at £250k. Financially, they are still better off then if they had complied. These cases need to get to court quickly - no more than 24 months and the fines need to be higher than the rent that the Rogue Landlord has received whilst the property was in breach. Landlords that respond to breaches and try to sort out issues should not be fined so heavily but those that continue to ignore should be hit hard. There are a majority of Landlords in the industry are GOOD despite what you think Sandra Bowes-Rennox and we need to make sure that GOOD landlords are not hurt by the behaviour of the minority Rogue Landlords.

From: S S 07 March 2024 11:35 AM

And of course - minus £650K and 40% of all wealth is taken in IHT - mainly affects the wealthiest except the really wealthy who can most afford it, have schemes to legally avoid paying IHT.

From: S S 01 March 2024 10:22 AM

Agree entirely with sentiment. The fines need to be greater than the financial benefits. However, the chances of getting the money are probably small. The article suggests the building has a new owner (who would buy a building with that going on) and Mr Bahbahani lives abroad. It's a shame that it takes so long - that's half the battle. Action against Rogue Landlords needs to be quicker. Existing legislation works and can deal with Rogue Landlords but it seems that some councils and all government ministers aren't aware of this by the amount of new legislation and regulation that they keep suggesting. Regulation that is often not joined up! RoPA is wanted by the industry but that wont stop Rogue Landlords unless RoPA includes incentives for Landlords to use a regulated professional, or Landlords have the option of becoming regulated by meeting the standards required by everyone and anyone working in the industry. No one without some qualification should be allowed to work in the industry and landlords should have the option of either being sufficiently qualified or being able to engage a professional who is.

From: S S 28 February 2024 11:11 AM

The type of Landlord that no one wants to see in the industry BUT Sandra, he is in the minority. Decent landlords want to see landlords like this removed from the industry. Unfortunately the fines are not enough. Its taken 2 years - if both properties are 7 bedrooms, let at £800pm, the income over 2 years is £135k. How many years prior to the visit in 2021 was he doing this for? The deterrent needs to be bigger to make these types of Landlord conform to the rules.

From: S S 21 February 2024 11:16 AM

The parable of the Sun and the Wind comes to mind. Who manages to get the man to take off the coat? The wind who batters the man and tries to rip the coat away or the sun who encourages with gentle heat. Both Tories and Labour are speaking words of batter. Rather than looking at the reasons why Landlords have moved from PRS to short term let, they just want to hit harder to make people reverse their actions. It's not difficult, sort out the causes to resolve the issue, hitting landlords harder wont work.

From: S S 21 February 2024 11:09 AM

Selective licencing also reduces the available properties for young people who want to share. We recently had a lovely large 3 bedroomed flat, of the many applicants, we had mother and her 13 year old daughter, who wanted to pool resources with Mother's best friend. Unfortunately 3 people, 2 households - property would need selective licencing for that. How is this helping house people who would not be entitled to social housing? There options are severely limited by selective licencing.

From: S S 21 February 2024 11:02 AM

Unfortunately this information does not play to the current narrative of certain charities or the Government. Shock, horror, the majority of Landlords are decent human beings, who do a good job. That doesn't make headlines though

From: S S 21 February 2024 10:58 AM

Fined £878 - thats a huge deterrent. This type of Landlord is the type that we dont want in the industry. Penalise the bad/rogue landlords heavily so that it is not a costs

From: S S 16 February 2024 09:00 AM

People like to link an increase to homelessness to an increase in Section 21 notices. However, they dont seem to be able to link an increase in Section 21 notices to the policies that are driving landlords to serve section 21 notices! Anti-landlord rhetoric, tax regimes that mean landlords are losing money by renting out their properties! Look at the causes of the section 21, make changes to them and then perhaps landlords wont feel it necessary to sell up or leave their properties empty rather than have tenants!

From: S S 09 February 2024 11:55 AM

Landlords who rent to Tenant farmers are completely different to Landlords in the PRS. Tenant farmers have a right of succession, I believe for as long as a direct family member wants to farm the land. Locally, a tenant farmer was encouraged off the land so that it could be sold for a 2,000 house development. From what i understand his compensation to leave the land was substantial, but still hard for him to have to accept as he has lost his way of life, not just his job. But I know that the Landowner is a particularly unpleasant person to deal with. Landowners, the landlords to a tenant famer are not the same entity as a person who owns a single house which is privately rented.

From: S S 07 February 2024 22:50 PM

Whatever regulation there is should be the same. You can not have 2 standards , you either need to comply with all legal requirements or you dont. Why should the regulations be different for asylum seekers? Are they less worthy? If a house is not safe for "normal" members of the population - should an asylum seeker be housed init. Take away regulation and you can be sure that the quality of housing for the most vulnerable would most likely the landlords who do not care to follow the rules, who would charging well above market rate for substandard rooms all at the expense of the British Tax payer. Good landlords tend to keep clear of any tenant who can not pass referencing and the right to rent requirements. Simply because even if you want to help, interference from Government/Council is more likely to cause the landlord pain so simply makes it not worth while.

From: S S 07 February 2024 22:41 PM

The tenant had paid the landlord to dispose of the waste. That is fact and the landlord does not deny that he received funds to pay for a 3rd party rubbish clearance. Then admits he did not instruct a 3rd party. This is all on the landlord. Use the money you charged the tenant to instruct a 3rd party or do it legally

From: S S 19 October 2023 09:12 AM

Many student landlords do NOT do 11 month tenancies - they charge 12 months I have had 3 children got through 3 different universities and no landlord offered 11 month tenancies. The best we had was Cardiff, where my daughter had 1/2 price for July and August BUT as long as she didn't live in it! So the landlord could do any work but the student were liable for CT (or not as students). He played the system - had paying tenants, an empty property and no liability as they had to pay for utilities and register as tenants so he didn't have to pay CT. One Landlord my son had in 2020 - had the departing student leaving the morning that my son was supposed to move in! Covid restrictions meant that there should have been at least 24hrs. My son had a wasted 4 hr round trip as they couldn't move in and the Landlord refused to give them any credit - furthermore he then claimed at the end of the tenancy he had had the house professionally cleaned (2 weeks before they moved in! yes the previous students were still there). There are some great student landlords who provide good accommodation and dont "rip" student off but many are greedy, do not look after their property, earn a lot more rent than if the property was in long term family rental. Make students sign up for a tenancy nearly a year in advance (who else does that), and in nearly all my children's cases ( and many of their friends) at the end of the tenancy claim for everything - even marks made on the wall by a bed they provide! I have had to threaten TDS for every case - charges for cleaning of the oven that I cleaned (photos proved cleaner at end than beginning) even one case where they tried to charge for cleaning 4 carpets in the house - only 2 rooms had carpets! And they were so cheap they would have disintegrated if they had been cleaned. The letting agent claiming the house was dusty - a whole video on a hand showing dust! Yes it was dusty as the students had given the keys back when they left at the end of the final term - 6 weeks (yes they paid for the 6 weeks they were not there) later the check out was done! The letting agent tried to claim for dust! for a plastic shower curtain that was long past it's best before they moved in but thankfully being in the business the "penalties" were quickly removed. The business model is definately to charge penalties at the end of the tenancy - and unfortunately most parents think that is the norm, that no matter how clean the property, the agent/LL will try and retain the majority of the deposit - I'm assuming the agent in these cases takes a % of the deposit they manage to keep! Imagine 5 students, the original penalty charge was over £2,000! ended up settling on £60 per student because they hadn't had the exterior windows cleaned. Perhaps this is the end of students being considered cash cows despite what many student Landlord's (and poor letting agents) think.

From: S S 30 August 2023 11:03 AM

Why does everyone need to be a "disruptor" - can they be innovators? A far more positive term!

From: S S 15 June 2023 09:07 AM

A success story in that perhaps a family who actually need the house will get it - but of course no guarantee. Just horrendous that probably £500K or so was spent on this case - £234,00 in deception, £cost to house in prison, £$$$$ cost in legal fees to get the house back - How can the council not be entitled to the house back when she has gone to prison for fraud!! and how did it take 4 years - they obviously didn't use S21!! The ultimate loser is the taxpayer and the families actually in need.

From: S S 31 May 2023 09:18 AM

Personally I think that a fine of £8,000 for two properties and over a number of years is not actually that much of a deterrent. If you forget to pay Heathrow airport £5, for dropping someone at the airport within 24hrs its an automatic £200 fine!! I'm sure that the LL received more than £8,000 in rent over the years that the tenants had to suffer with poor condition. A deterrent needs to be strong enough that when the council served the notices, the LL knows that they will be severely out of pocket if the work isn't completed. Landlords like this tarnish the whole sector.

From: S S 23 May 2023 10:40 AM

As a letting agent, we had a tenant with dementia, we constantly monitored him, helped him when he forgot to load up his electricity card. He had no family locally - so we had to deal with social services to get him into a care home - it took years and we had to deal with constant complaints from neighbour even though the council told her that we could not do more. We were about to issue a section 21 - just because we had got to the point where he was becoming a danger to himself. Unfortunately all the neighbours complaints did was delay as Care Homes rejected him because of them. So often in so many situations, we are expected to be social workers. However, in this case, were his family/friends never concerned in 6 years? Whilst poor from the social housing association - surely a friend or family member should have raised alarm! We have had a couple of older tenants pass away - we have found them as when their relatives can't get hold of them, we step in and visit the property.

From: S S 15 May 2023 11:05 AM

As a small local independent agent we provide a bespoke service second to none for our clients - We are RICS regulated (very unusual) as well as ARLA and ANEA qualified. We treat every property as our own and unlike most agents - including other local independents we dont charge our contractors a commission for giving them the work. We are clear and transparent - Agents like us are out there but its up to Landlords to investigate. We are worth our fees BUT..... Many Landlords will look for the "cheapest" agent - forgetting to include all the "extras" like hidden commission from contractors - Pay peanuts and you get monkeys!

From: S S 19 April 2023 09:27 AM

Not all are the same but landlords need to do their research and find the ones that actually are professional. We are a good local agent and we certainly go above and beyond. During Covid, we had a vulnerable landlord client. We provided a homecooked roast meal every sunday to his exact liking at no charge which also meant an hours drive there and back to deliver. We did it because it was the right thing to do. Not all agents are the same.

From: S S 10 March 2023 09:18 AM

Please don't tar every letting agent with the same brush - some of us have high standards and we believe in providing a service. We don't charge the contractor a 10% fee for giving them work - we charge the landlord the exact price the contractor charges us - no hike! they get the actual invoice, as a result we have great contractors and happy landlords. We provide a professional service and treat every house as if we owned it - yes we are the exception but if you look you will find exceptional letting agents out there. The problem is many landlords don't both looking and do not bother talking to independent agents - they can't be bothered to move so continue to validate the agents that do rip landlords off. And those agents are making money from marking up all the hidden "extras" they reduce their headline fee - the landlord doesn't realise that they are actually paying more than if they switched to an independent agent.

From: S S 10 March 2023 09:14 AM

My daughter was a medical student in Brighton. The standard of the student rentals was appalling. High rents and no work being done to maintain or improve the property. Where there is a high proportion of student properties I am not surprised that there is a high level of fines. Not all but many LL who rent to students do not bother to provide a good quality of accommodation and the letting agents that we have dealt with for the student properties have be less than professional. Even tried to charge us for steam cleaning of extremely cheap carpets - they counted 4 carpets in the property - there were 2 bedrooms with carpets!!! So yes I am pleased if regulation and inspection of poor properties means LL doing it on the cheap will get penalised. It is as it should be.

From: S S 30 January 2023 12:24 PM

Are they educating tenants too! Often mould is due to tenant lifestyle issues.

From: S S 10 January 2023 09:58 AM

Are the houses that move into the shared ownership sector being replaced with new social housing? Social housing is what is in shortage in this country so continually making that sector smaller through sell off and not replacing is not helping the housing crisis!

From: S S 04 January 2023 12:22 PM

The monthly costs of accountancy software is an issue for small landlords as they really dont have the need for complex accountancy packages for one property rental. What I would like to see developed is a MTD that allows for multiple inputs so an agent can provide the service for their landlords.

From: S S 19 December 2022 22:35 PM

Build to rent often seems to be luxury apartments with communal space and gyms. Which is fine but they don't come cheap and would not suit a large percentage of renters. Replacing small LL with large build to rent will not solve the housing problem.

From: S S 05 December 2022 10:05 AM

Perhaps those of us in the business should be sending this article to all our MP's!

From: S S 03 December 2022 14:46 PM

It is easy to tar every student with the same brush and so many student properties are incredibly poorly maintained. - cheap carpets, cheap beds, bodge repairs, badly fitted kitchens and often inappropriate bedrooms to bathrooms. I saw one property advertised for £3,500 per month on South Coast - 7 bedrooms. One bathroom and toilet. No communal space only a small kitchen! The new build student accomodation is incredibly luxurious but very unaffordable.

From: S S 07 November 2022 10:15 AM

Having had 3 children go through university (yes I am lucky but to follow their chosen careers they had no choice) and there is no doubt that students are often treated as second class renters! We had to pay the deposit nearly a year in advance! Then often the condition when they moved into the property was poor - one even had a huge hole in the hallway from an unrepaired leak - which the letting agent didn't think to mention when we picked up the keys (it took 6 months before it was repaired!) . Every agent has tried to charge for repairs/cleaning - including the cleaning of 4 carpets - only 2 rooms had carpets! - which were the cheapest you can buy, a shower curtain that was probably 5 year old when they moved in, and I bleached clean! One agency sent us a bill of £1,500 for cleaning at the tenancy end! Fortunately I had taken a lot of photos before and after and was cetainly not paying for cleaning of an oven and hob that I had cleaned and was in better condition at the end of the tenancy than at the beginning. Yes, the other 4 housemates did not hoover under their beds at the end - fair enough but the £1,500 charge was reduced to £300!! I'm an experienced letting agent - I know how a house should be left andevery house that my children have lived in was left in the same condition that it was when they moved in (or better). One agent tried to charge for "dust" - they had the keys for 6 weeks before doing the check out - I'm sure there was dust in the rooms by then! I also see that whilst there are students who don't clean up, the majority are normal young people who pay an a much higher rent for often very poor accomodation. If you treat students with no respect , treat the accomodation that is provided with no respect by not maintaining to a good standard, then it is not surprising that students living in accomodation like that show no respect - they are just following the lead of the landlord and/or letting agent. Student houses earn a far higher income than if the same property was rented to a family - so yes that will come with more work. But yes, overall, I believe that students do get ripped off, which is a shame as that first interaction with private renting only works to create a bad impression of the industry. They believe that all landlords and agencies are there to rip them off.

From: S S 07 November 2022 10:10 AM

It seems fair that an AirBnB run as a business shoudl pay for collection of rubbish. That collection is integral to their business and they are charging visitors for to use the house but then not paying the council to take away the rubbish their business is generating. I'm not sure that it is fair that residential households shoudl be subsidising residential holiday lets. In the same way, I think that a 3 bed residential house turned into a proefssional 5 bed HMO should be charged more for the council run services as 5 adults living separately (but together) produce more rubbish than a family. Converted and let as a professional HMO, the propery generates significantly higher income than if it let as a traditinoal family home. Costs need to be shared fairly across all forms of residential lets - be they short-term, traditional or HMO.

From: S S 08 September 2022 15:31 PM

Teh key there is low EPC homes in high yield areas. So the houses may currently be rented to low income tenants but IMMO will be looking for HIGH yield so the rents once the property have bee brought up to EPC C will not be affordable

From: S S 26 July 2022 09:00 AM

Not a bad revenue raising scheme - 29,000 houses at £500 per house - £14,500,000 every 5 years! Extend the scheme to cover the other 40,000 houses in the PRS and that's another £20M. Not bad guaranteed income every 5 years!

From: S S 12 July 2022 09:58 AM

The problem i have is with Letting agencies and Landlords who have a business model of charging for damage, cleaning, repainting when the students have returned the house in the same or better condition. One house my son was in received deductions of £1,500 (Corporate LA). Fortunately we had before and after photos which proved that the house had been left cleaner and in a better condition than when the tenancy started! I just said we would go to TDS and the deductions suddenly dropped and only the two students who hadn't hoovered under their bed were charged. The agent even tried to charge for a mark on the wall made by the bed that they supplied. In my daughters case, the agent included carpet cleaning for 4 carpets despite there only being 2 rooms with carpets! and full replacement of a £10 shower curtain, that was NOT NEW when they moved in...another situation where I had to threaten to take to TDS and the deductions were recalculated. In this instance, they had received the keys for the property 6 weeks before the end of the tenancy and on inspection 6 weeks later tried to charge for dust! Unfortunately many corporate letting agencies just see students and their parents as easy "deduction" money and work on the basis that each student can afford to lose a few hundred in cleaning or damage or redecoration despite the fact that in some places the students have paid collectively £30k to rent a 4 bedroomed house. There will be a level of wear and tear but the reward for the LL income is more than they would get if they rented their 3 bed house to a family rather than 5 students. They can't have it all.

From: S S 01 July 2022 01:18 AM

Whilst there is a shortage of homes, LL do not have to accept tenants on benefits as there will always be a working applicant for a property. If Government wants PRS LL to accept tenants on benefits then they need to change the benefit system. The current system means no PRS LL wants to risk taking on a benefits tenant if they have a choice of working tenants. Unfortunately the good benefit tenant is tarred by the system and there is no reason to take the risk. There won't "blanket bans" but there will always be better applicants. Rents are rising because there is a shortage in supply. There is a shortage in supply because the government is making the landscape untenable for the smaller LL so they are selling up. Making it more challenging for the good decent LL is going to exacerbate the exodus and oh - rents will continue to rise. Gosh they didn't think of that! We are moving into Commercial Property where LL's retain control.

From: S S 16 June 2022 00:21 AM

If you use an agent - choose a good agent - that means that as a LL you may pay a reasonable charge and you will get an agent who treats the property as it it were their own. Choose a corporate, an unqualified, a cheap or an "online" agent you'll most likely get the service you pay for. Good agents are an asset to a LL - and if your agent is not an asset then find and pay for a professional service.

From: S S 15 June 2022 20:21 PM

Easy to resolve - use an independent qualified agent - Corporates will never look after your property - you're just a number. A smaller independent agent cares - probably unlikely to add charges on top of charges and will look after your property as if it was their own.

From: S S 24 May 2022 08:36 AM

As a landlord and agent running a small team, we care - we treat our landlords property as if that property were our own, we are available 24/7 for both tenants and landlords - We treat every landlord as an individual and provide a bespoke service tailored to what each person needs and wants. We want happy tenants and happy landlords. We also don't charge our contractors to receive work and don't add charges onto landlords, a landlords pays exactly what the contractor charges! The problem is that landlords go to corporates because they are seen as "safe", landlords often don't respect qualifications and want the cheapest service, (we are actually cheaper than the other local agents around us and provide a better service) but often the cheaper agents "add in charges" and suddenly a landlord is tied in and they are expensive. Bad agents also tie in landlords - if a landlord is unhappy with the service, the agent refuses to let them go! For all the landlords that complain about agents don't tar us all with the same brush- some of us are qualified (RICS & ARLA), some of us have absolute integrity but getting a landlord to leave a "bad" agent is hard as many particularly "accidental" and smaller landlords are apathetic about leaving. A good agent is actually an incredible asset for your property portfolio

From: S S 22 April 2022 09:43 AM

So the comparison on yield is based on getting £75.00 per night for 365 days of the year giving an income of £27,000 compared to a AST rental at £1,450 per month giving a yield of £17,400. BUT you can only let a property out for 90 days of the year in some places so the income of £27k (assuming full occupancy which is highly unlikely) suddenly falls to £6,750. And of course the costs of short term rental are much higher so the net return will be perhaps 60% of the gross yield - so you may end up with an income of £4,050. As a long term rental, gross income at £17k per annum less costs of around £3k a year giving a net income of £14k year after year with a lower risk. Of course there are those who choose to break the law and air bnb for more than the 90 days so in the short term may reap higher rewards - but be prepared to get caught and potentially lose all the "extra" income in court. Media hype never usually tells the truth - And holiday rentals vs long term rentals are 2 different markets.

From: S S 11 December 2021 10:26 AM

May be the answer is to use a RICS or ARLA letting agent. Of course it doesn't guarantee but a GOOD letting agent chooses good tenants - looks after the property and after paying for their service (management fee) the Landlord probably gets the same income as a rent2rent BUT the LL doesn't loose control, knows that the property is being looked after and their investment is SAFE. A good letting agent is an asset to the Landlord and it's a shame that the media doesn't focus and encourage Landlords to use a PROFESSIONAL agent

From: S S 13 November 2021 12:44 PM

At the end of the day, any vendor can decide which offer they choose to accept. Surely no one can force a vendor to accept an offer than is unacceptable to them. Therefore if a vendor decides that they will only sell to a first time buyer or owner occupier that is their prerogative?

From: S S 02 November 2021 07:43 AM

So between 21/9/16 and 2/7/2019, assuming the shed was rented at £160 per week, they received in rent £31,520. Their fines were in total £17,161.67? Of that £12,161.67 was Councils costs. And that ignore the rent charged between the original enforcement notice served in 2015. So the result is Rogue Landlords - carry on doing what you are doing because even if you get caught breaching enforcement notices, you'll still be better off! If you want to stop rogue landlords then the fines should be greater than the benefit - In this case it was very clear that they were in breach and continued to operate in breach. They should lose all the income that was made from renting out an unsuitable and illegal property. That is the only way to stop this type of behaviour.

From: S S 21 October 2021 08:05 AM

What a farce. Sell the homes cheap to tenants subsidised by the taxpayer, then buy at full market price subsidised by the taxpayer. Makes complete sense!!

From: S S 15 July 2021 13:33 PM

The point about rent a room is that the landlord is still living in the house - If you are doing that no problem but if you are trying to claim a lodger allowance when the house is being rented out (without the landlord in the premises) then that's not a "lodger" and should not be allowed. Any let where the landlord is not present and living in the property is taxable and should be declared as such and LL taxed on it. Fairness is required for all housing solutions and loopholes where people are claiming allowances (which are subsidised by the taxpayer - ie you and me!) but effectively "running a short term letting business" should not be allowed. LL have to meet strict regulations etc and fleecing the system by "pretending" that its an allowable non-taxable income doesn't help anyone in the long term (other than the person ripping off the taxpayer).

From: S S 14 May 2021 14:43 PM

Not quite sure why owing "a share of the freehold in a block of six flats in south London, in one of which she lives" is a story! That may have been the tenure on the property when it was bought - I expect all 6 owners have a share in the freehold. Great, they have control over their building and are responsible for it - not sure how that is bad? She has registered that she rents a room out! not against the law so why the BIG deal. It seems with that just owning a property is not aligned with supporting Labour. What rubbish. Landlords and tenants are "fundamentally opposed" - sorry but utter rubbish.

From: S S 11 May 2021 09:03 AM

Thank you Andrew Townsend - A good letting agent is worth every penny and works hard for every penny. But too often they are disparaged and a LL wants to cut the fee to the minimum. A good LA makes the LL life so much better and hassle free because they deal with everything - therefore the LL thinks that they shouldn't have to pay for the service because it's easy! If its easy, its because the LA is doing a good job and should be paid fairly for it.

From: S S 22 April 2021 09:35 AM

If the LL doesn't perform his duties then he should be fined - however I expect that £6k doesn't really cause him any concern. These offences happened in 2019 - 2 visits so no excuse. If you can't do the job propertly should not be a LL. Standards wont improve with Regulation as LL do not have to be qualified. Reason to make it so that only qualified people can manage property - so if a LL doesn't qualify as a property professional he should give the job of managing to an qualified licenced property professional. And people who continue to manage but don't use a qualified person should be fined at the level were the risk is so much greater than the reward that it is not worth the risk. This is the only way to really improve the industry. Good LL do do/ will do what they need to do to comply with regulation and ensure good standards in the PRS and in particular HMO management - Bad LL will continue to fly under the radar until they get caught - Getting caught should mean financial penalties that make taking the risk untenable.

From: S S 22 April 2021 09:31 AM

Grumpy Doug Yes students sign an AST but UNLIKE other renters - they are pressurised into signing contracts often 10 months before they move into the property - UNLIKE every other renter. I have paid for a room for the last year - which my son has not spent one night in......all because he had to sign a tenancy agreement 9 months before the tenancy started (January 2020) and because often LL dont bother having any time for essential maintenance between tenancies - in this property last year the previous tenants were moving out on the day my son was supposed to move in so he couldn't move in for 5 days! reduced rent - not offered. Maintenance loans!! My son receives a maintenance loan of £1,386 to cover 4 months - given that his rent is £550 per month before bills and living expenses, doesn't actually cover much. I'm not saying that students should be given rent free by PRS but perhaps signing tenancies 9 months in advance is not a practice that should be encouraged. If all student properties could only be signed for up to 4 months in advance and everyone stuck to it then whats the problem! You'll still get the students you want. Furthermore the business models for some LA and LL are to then charge for anything and everything at the end of the tenancy. My son spent 4 hrs cleaning his bathroom/bedroom - removing all the limescale limescale - it was cleaner than when he moved into the room. (thankfully I had photos to prove) - the LA tried to charge for painting a wall because the bed (provided by the LL) had left a tiny mark on the wall!!! The oven and hob apparently needed a professional - again I had photos to prove that it was actually cleaner at the end of the tenancy than at the start... but some LA look at it and think - 5 students - we made them pay a deposit of 2 months (pre June19) so we've got a £1000 per tenant - so we'll charge them £300 each at the end - they will be grateful to get £700 back. Sadly for that LA, I'm a property professional and after evidence and a threat to go to TDS, they backed down. SO yes in many ways, students get a raw deal - however, treat them with some level of respect, provide them with a decent well-looked after property and the majority are good tenants. Student houses do require more maintenance because there can up be a large number of adults all living in a small space - but they PAY to live there - and they pay more than a family would for the same space. So the yield is higher. Every LL I know who has a good, looked-after student property doesn't have a problem. If you dont choose to be a student LL - Andrew Townsend - fine. But most student are not "I'm entitled" - they are very much aware of the cost that they are incurring - £9k per year tutition fees that no other generation incurred. Student loans they have to pay back - My daughter a recent medical school graduate has left university with around £60k of debt - people who graduated 2 years before her had about £17k - she doesn't get paid any more than they did/do yet her debt is 3x theirs. She's was not "I'm entitled", neither is my son, or my youngest daughter.

From: S S 20 April 2021 09:30 AM

Mediation only works if parties engage - Problems arise because tenants who fall into arrears bury their heads in the sand - ignore all attempts by the LA to try and talk to them. If they wont talk to the LA, how is a mediator going to get them to engage

From: S S 09 April 2021 11:08 AM

£10k total fine - a landlord who has at least 2 properties. That's not a deterrent. If you want to stop sub-standard accommodation then the fine has to be severe enough that the LL actually does the work. Rogue LL like this tarnish all LL. So many times LL get fines that don't really "damage" them so they continue in their poor provision.

From: S S 08 April 2021 10:37 AM

Marilyn Randall - A LL who manages a student property allowing for void perids between students understands the market and therefore I would hope that your students will honour the agreement. You are a rare species- Sadly, in my experience, the majority of LL of student do not think like you. Simon X - I'm glad that your students receive a reduction in energy bills - that at least shows some understanding for the student - And the reality is the student perhaps requires slightly more regular maitenance than a family house but that is because the tenants are replaced every year....and to maintain the standard of the house, work may be required. But in reality the investment is in the house to ensure that the returns has continue at a high level and student houses are rented out at a higher rent than the same property to a family - so it is all swings and roundabouts.

From: S S 14 April 2020 11:43 AM

Loans do not cover rent - My son loan's is £1,386 - his rent per month £540. The loan is paid in April and he does not receive any further payments until September. His part-time job has gone. Rent due from April to September £3,240. His rent is due every month as he has to sign a 12 month contract even though he only lives in the house from September to May. He also has to pay for food, utilities etc. Student loans are paid back over 25 years - if students are high earners they will pay them back. The base rate is currently 0.01% - Interest on student loans is charged at 6%. Students are cash cows for many people and students have little or no choice. Have just some consideration - I'm not saying everything for free but stop thinking of student as free-loaders - My daughter has just finished her medical degree - Her student debt is over £80,000 and she is being charged 6% interest. But without students like her - we would have no doctors! no nurses! - She's not asking LL to starve but in unpredecented times like this perhaps we all need to think outside the box.

From: S S 14 April 2020 11:29 AM

I'm a LL and a parent of 3 uni students. My son has recevied his grant - He recevied £1,386. His rent for April, May and June is £1,620. His part-time job has gone. He stay has to pay for living expenses, ulitilies, BB, etc. His student loan does NOT cover his rent so saying because they received a loan all students have the funds to pay the rent. We have asked his LL (in a house of 5 students) if they can leave one month early - So the LL gets a annual rent of £29,700 rather than £32,400. Are they being unreasonable? Given that they have also been requested to check out of the property 6 days BEFORE the end of the contract but without the offer of pro-rota rent in that month (and the LL needs to get work done before the new students move in on July 1st) do I have sympathy for the LL. No! If you want to rake in the rent from students - and houses rented to students achieve fair higher yields and rent income than if the same houses were rented out to families - then in extreme circumstances being "fair and decent" to tha hand that feeds you is probably the better route to take. Students get a rough deal in many places - I have experience of Brighton, Oxford and Cardiff - so far Cardiff wins! Brighton and Oxford are poor providers of decent affordable student houses.

From: S S 14 April 2020 11:00 AM

But the evictions that were granted BEFORE this must be allowed to precede once this is over. We have a tenant who owes nearly a year in rent. The LL has tried to help but eventually had to go to court to get possession. This was granted - the Baliffs were due to go on 23rd March. The LL should not be made to suffer more unpaid rent after this crisis has passed as the reasons for the eviction had NOTHING to do with coronavirus.

From: S S 25 March 2020 11:29 AM

So student receiving their loans means they shold pay their rents! My student son receives £1,386 in student loans - his monthly rent is £540 per month. He lives in a house with 4 other students. They are requesting a tenancy surrender for 1 month - and if the LL keeps all the deposit (9 weeks as they had to pay the deposit and sign the agreement 9 month before they moved into the house) she will lose LESS than one months rent. Between the 5 of them they will have paid £29,700 rent for 11 months on a 5 bed roomed house in Oxford. He's at Brookes University not Oxford University. In this unprecedent situation is it really too much to ask? Students have to pay deposits 9 months in advance - in most cases they have to pay for 12 months rent and the LL knowing that the students always leave in the summer still charge FULL rent and any cleaning/repairs whilst students are at home. My son's contract finishes on June 30th, the new set of tenants start their contract on 1st July......I'm a LL as well as a business owner and so many student in many cities are taken advantage off - they don't have a choice. My daughter is at Cardiff and at least there some LL offer 1/2 rent in July and August. But they all want signed contracts and deposits 9 months in advance. No other private tenant faces these problems.

From: S S 25 March 2020 10:51 AM

We have a tricky few months ahead. Agents only get paid on receipt of rent so no rent no income but the staff are still required to manage the properties - can't simply shut up shop so therefore can not "furlough" staff. And the difficulty is that with the "mortgage holiday" being reported, tenants believe that Landlords are getting a free period rather than understanding that the payments are simply being defered, and with the media always seems to highlight the bad Landlords never the good ones. There are still people earning full salaries and hopefully they wont jump on the band wagon and try and claim 3 months free rent.

From: S S 23 March 2020 10:17 AM

Self-managed LL can save money in the short term, but as regualtions increase, and qualifications are introduced, it may become more difficult. If all LA need to have qualifications to work in the industry, then any self-managed LL should as well. How can tenants be sure of quality of service/standard/legality if a private LL isn't qualified to work in the industry. And when things go wrong suddenly the self managed wants the help of an agent. Its a tough industry as everyone thinks they can do the job in residential letting and little respect is given to the LA, who works hard, attends professional training, keeps up-to-date with regualtion and legisalation etc - and who only earns if the job is done and done well, yet the LA is considered to be a pariah who doesn't doo anything for their charges. Lawyers get paid regardless of outcomes and in the commercial letting world, many LL wouldn't dream of doing anything with an agent. I just wish that the media would encourage a more positive view of the LA so that LL really understand the benefits rather than simply thinking that thy can do it simply because they have a house, and that tenants have the knowledge that a good LA provides protection for them.

From: S S 26 February 2020 11:40 AM

The article is suggesting that if you want to implement legislation in favour of the tenant (some reforms which I am happy with) you also need to ensure that the supply side works too. As has be said - tax reforms that simply encourage the LL out of the PRS will NOT result in a supply of properties available for long term security. Why bother with long term tenants when for many LL more money and less regulation can be found in the short term market. When there are the occasions that a LL requires a property back for legitimate reasons (we currently have an ongoing case) the LL needs security that he can get the property. Our LL informed the tenant 3 months ago that their daughter needed the property having returned from abroad. Correct notice was served 2 months ago. The tenant has simply just not moved out. The LL has done nothing wrong, tried to give the tenant as much notice as they could beyond that required by law. The tenant now is simply not moving so the LL only recourse is a long and expensive court process. The LL has said they will not rent the property again - another property lost to the market because of a difficult tenant and an unhelpful process. Both sides of the market need to balance for the market to work effectively and efficiently. The trouble is that Governments want to win voters with BIG headlines without really understanding the business behind it.

From: S S 18 February 2020 10:48 AM

The only tenants that will be able to find properties in Wales will be students! They are the only tenants who are more or less guaranteed to move on! But even then there's always a risk, they perhaps have nothing to lose by staying.

From: S S 12 February 2020 13:58 PM

Andrew Townshend - Better headlines for the folks that pushed for these cuts. Afterall, Renters save an average of £163 on deposits BUT lose an average of £300 (if monthly rent was subsequently increased by £25 per month). Doesn't sound so good. Having said that, some agents were ripping tenants off with their admin fees and deposits. My son rented a house with 5 people - one tenancy agreement (ok credit checks guarantors need to be paid for etc) but really the admin fee was over £800. Realistically it was not 5 times the work of producing a AST for 1 person (I'm in the business - I do know), it was one AST with 5 names on, 1 inventory, and wow they had to deal with 5 people collecting keys on different days - Was that really £800+ amount of work . And a deposit of 2 months per person (around £5K) that's uneccessary. Shame how a few couldn't control their greed. With 3 kids at university, I have thousand tied up in deposits (often having to be handed over 8 months before the tenancy even starts!!) Some things do need to change. Looking forward to when the legislation stops collecting deposits 8 to 12 month in advance.

From: S S 05 February 2020 23:01 PM

So true. Rogue tenants never seem to make headlines compared to rogue landlords. The media seem to take delight in highlighting bad landlords - Good landlords don't make headlines, neither do good letting agents. Good Letting Agents are rarely appreciated. : (

From: S S 28 January 2020 10:24 AM

Lets see if enforcement works - chances are this rogue LL doesn't apply to law to hiself so whats the chance hell still be operating an HMO illegally in 2 years?

From: S S 19 September 2019 14:52 PM

Note the headline - Tenant "bullied" - the tenant signed a contract and he has breached that contract. He has left the country making the choice NOT to honour his contract. Now the LL is "bullying". This is WRONG. The headline should be "Tenant refuses to HONOUR contract". Now if a LL asks someone within the terms of the contract to leave the property, he is vilified - Government change the Law to protect the "poor" tenant, but when the tenant does a runner leaving the LL in the lurch - the Tenant is bullied....LL are in a NO WIN situation. LANDLORD TODAY why do you make headlines that support LL bashing even when the poor LL has done nothing wrong?

From: S S 19 September 2019 14:50 PM

The cost of a good, trustworthy, qualified LA is worth every penny when the downside can be so crippling yet some LL don't appreciate what a LA can do. Fees are squeezed and for many LL the savings made in the short term are lost when things go wrong. There are always the rogue tenants but using a good LA may help reduce the probability of renting to one. There is a lot of bad media around LA, but without them, the PRS will be in even more serious trouble Recognition of the good independents and the worthwhile job they do is so needed.

From: S S 15 August 2019 09:43 AM

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