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John Fields
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About Me

my expertise in the industry

John 's Recent Activity

John  Fields
As is often the case with Paul, some really good points raised and a sensible overview of the current state of the market. I am very unhappy, as I feel most Landlords are, of the extremely biased view levelled against the PRS. I have currently 2 evictions going through, one of which is not a bad tenant but needs to downsize and needs local authority assistance. The other, is extremely challenging and I now liaising with his father and to some degree his mother. I feel for those that can hold their nerve, and see this through, the rewards will be able to be reaped. However, I am looking at further diversification of my portfolio, and not seeking to simply stick with BTL in order to protect myself to some degree from the over regulation currently taking place. The picture painted of the PRS makes no mention of the terrible state that some London Local Authorities allow their properties to fall into a state of uninhabitability. I watched a documentary a couple of weeks ago and many of the local council properties were in a disgusting state, to the point it was seriously affecting the tenant's health. Yet, those same authorities had the front to go to other property owned and rented out by Private Landlords that have had far less serious issues raised and threatened with court action and fines! OK, you want a better standard of living offered by the PRS, no problem, but don't be a hypocrite and don't then look at PRS to be your cash cow and fill your gaping financial 'blackholes' created by suspect accounting practices and wasted money. It is LONG OVEDUE to change the rhetoric by both local and central government. Stop trying to play politics with people's lives and grow up. All the LL Bashing amounts to is vote scoring! If you really want to get the votes, WORK WITH LL's and reduce the unnecessary bureaucracy and huge costs being piled onto LL's. This will allow more LL's to enter the market, improve margins and slow down the increase in rent hikes. This will then benefit EVERYONE! It really isn't rocket science!!!

From: John Fields 10 October 2021 16:34 PM

John  Fields
Daniel, what EXACTLY is your definition of 'Overprivileged'? If by that term you are referring to working 7 days a week, 12-18 hour days and dealing with significant levels of stress to get to a point whereby one is able to afford to save a deposit and then put it up to pay for a second property to have some small amount of financial freedom to allow for a reasonably secure retirement, then yes, most Landlords would agree, they are guilty as charged. For those of us who fall into this category, and stats show that the vast majority of Landlords only own 1-2 properties for rental purposes, they are vilified for financially planning ahead, making sacrifices and on top of that, providing a service to the general public by giving them one of our essential needs, a home. It's funny, ANYONE who has actually taken the plunge to set up and run their own business will never come out with these negative comments, mainly because they can empathise, they can understand what it takes to be not only successful, but more than that, the struggle to keep getting back up when all others have fallen by the wayside. Those that constantly complain and express their envy are the ones that will always see the glass as half empty, rather than like others who see it as half full. If you want absolute Equality in the world, forget it. We are not born equal. Some are born into wealth, some not, some are very intelligent, some are not, some have disabilities, some not, and so on. That really is life, so get used to it! However, if you want a fairer society, this can be improved on. But, there will ALWAYS be natural selection: There will always be 'Leaders' and 'Followers or Worker'. And that is simply due to the fact that being a leader takes certain skill sets and mental stamina, which as we already know, not everyone has. So, the reason some Landlords are asking for multiple months up front is to protect their investment and business. This is called having a business strategy, something which many of the people constantly complaining about and mislabelling the so-called 'privileged' would not know about. You know, a strategy, that thing which allows you to plan ahead more than a day at a time to enable you to get ahead in life and avoid some of the financial hardship that so many could avoid if they were a little smarter with things like budgeting for example and forgoing the summer holidays for a year or 2 or even 12! In short Daniel, don't think everyone is a multi-millionaire Landlord and born into it. Most of us have worked and still are working extremely hard. The main difference between the haves and have nots, if you really want to simplify it, is the mental mindset and approach. I have a 'can do and go to approach'. I don't limit myself or simply accept my environment. I stretch and challenge. This is why, for my main job I became a teach and instructor to allow me to engage with those same people and educate them to be able to become members of society which contribute rather than simply drain the state. Oh, by the way, I don't deliver 'Property Training'. My company delivers to the Health & Social Care Sector, Education, Security and Retail. We have, as a company helped hundreds of people back into work and upskilled them into better paid jobs. What have you done with your day so far? I would like to think that you have made a positive contribution to your society in some way.....maybe you have, I have no idea.

From: John Fields 29 July 2021 09:53 AM

John  Fields
GR and Sad Dick Khan still being economic with the truth. They give the impression of the LL's simply increasing the rents in order to line our own pockets. The reason for the increases is down to the following: - Increase in costs associated with being a LL and maintaining compliance - Introduction of removing the ability to offset mortgage repayments against rental income even though it is a legitimate expense - Lack of housing and rental stock, market forces. The government and these so-called pressure groups all play the sympathy card but really, they are wolves in sheep's clothing. These policies will simply mean that more and more LL's will sell up and leave the sector, the prices will not change and affordability for buyers will not change. So the net result is less stock available, and demand & supply kicks in. This means rents will simply increase. The solution is relatively simple: 1. Build more housing. At least make an effort to meet the 300,00 annual target which has NEVER been achieved and allow the councils to actually build some of their own property again with the funds they secured from their selloffs. 2. Stop with the prohibitive legislation for the LL's, remove the tax grabs and give something back to the LL's. 3. Give the debt burden C19 Tenants loans or grants to clear their rent arrears and help the LL's reduce their losses. 4. Actually WORK WITH LL's rather than against them. Any decent LL will want to keep good quality stock for their tenants and maintain them. Remember, the property is an investment and needs to be maintained to draw a good value. 5. Bring back the direct to LL payments for those on benefits to encourage LL's to go rent to this sector. There has been a deliberate precision attack on the PRS for some time now and all that has happened is the pitting of LL's against their tenants and the general public. The public have been fed a red herring making the LL's the bad guys. Yes, there are some rogues out there but I promise you there are more rogue tenants compared to rogue LL's. The numbers speak for themselves with GR claiming that 1,000's of people are going to be made homeless. If that is the case, why? If the vast majority have been on furlough, still being paid 80% of their normal wages, why are they unable to pay at least 80% of their rent? Far too many have simply taken advantage. It is long overdue for the truth to be told and for the media to stop fanning these flames and pitting the general public against those who are actually propping up the market for homes for people. If the PRS was not around the levels of homelessness would be a much bigger problem!

From: John Fields 08 July 2021 16:38 PM

John  Fields
David, you are correct but having said that it is still not down to the Landlord (LL) to support every body. 3 months is enough time to make the necessary arrangements and seek alternative accommodation. No one here is saying it is easy. You say we are all in this together, but I am afraid that is NOT the case. There is an uneven playing field and ultimately, the LL is being asked to carry the can for everyone else if they lose their job etc. How are we in it together if a LL is £000's out of pocket with very little chance of recovering it. Yes, a tenant may have lost their job and income but can if needs be sign on. Meanwhile the LL is left with a gaping hole in their income, ongoing mortgage and potentially then is penalised yet further due to interest accumulating and in the worst case scenario may have the property repossessed. So, we are NOT in it together. What we have is help being given to the tenants and the LL being left high and dry to carry their tenant's hardship as well as their own. This is no one's fault and these are the risks that come with business I agree. However, living your life and supporting yourself is not the responsibility of everyone else, that is down to YOU! 3 months is more than enough time to make the necessary searches and if it means moving back in with mum and dad or relatives etc, then so be it. I have worked with my tenants and I still am. My experiences have mainly been positive but there is always going to be one or two challenges. But, my first priority is to MY family, not anyone else's. We need to create a more can do attitude in this country and less of a reliance culture on everyone else that has worked hard and achieved and made a little bit.

From: John Fields 21 August 2020 11:45 AM

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