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Rob Davies

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my expertise in the industry

Rob 's Recent Activity

@Kate Nairn - quite the opposite, Kate. Corbyn is very in touch with what people think. Believe it or not, there is a world outside your property investing bubble. And, believe it or not, buy-to-letters aren't all that popular. Wonder why that is? If RTB is to be introduced for social housing, why not the PRS too? Fair's fair.

From: Rob Davies 07 August 2015 12:05 PM

No, most of us are too busy laughing at the "poor little me" landlords like you. Corbyn is the only credible candidate in the Labour leadership election. If you can't see that, then that says more about you than us. Whether you agree with him or not, he has sound principles that he sticks to. He doesn't just change his mind depending on how the wind (and public opinion) blows. He will offer some actual opposition rather than what we have now. That's what you need in a functioning democracy - strong opposition! The bedroom tax, seriously? Most rational people I know see that regressive tax for what it is. Oh, and that old chestnut, let's blame everything on benefit claimants. It's all their fault, all the time. Maybe the idea that you can make tonnes of money from investing in property should be looked. Yeah, I know, free market and free will, blah, blah, blah, but the very idea that you can make thousands of pounds through market conditions is ludicrous - what have you done to earn that money? Diddly squat. It's pure luck.

From: Rob Davies 07 August 2015 12:02 PM

Not a lot, I'd imagine. They usually seem to get away with in these cases. Unfortunately, poor agents will be allowed to operate and there is not a lot that can be done to stop it. Standards can be driven up across the board, but while agents like MTPC think they can get away with shoddy service and rule-flouting they will continue to do so. You can understand why there is so much distrust of letting agents and the PRS, can't you?

From: Rob Davies 14 July 2015 11:28 AM

Not really. "There is a big problem in the property market making it difficult for young people to buy, and pushing up rents. The problem is a lack of supply." Yes, because the supply that does exist is being hoovered up by landlords. And that's because it's easier to get a BTL mortgage than it is for young first-time buyers to get a mortgage. Rental properties might be taxed more than owner-occupied properties, but they're a lot easier to acquire in the first place. That has to change. Why does someone need 50 or 60 properties when young people have given up on owning all together? It's not the fault of landlords that the supply situation in this country is so dire, but this poor me narrative from landlords is a little bit tedious, to be honest. Why do you become a private landlord in the place? To make money, surely? So you will seek to protect that profit by any means. I'm sure many landlords do treat their tenants well, but there are also many who don't. Landlords don't seem willing to accept this and get very defensive against criticism, a bit like estate agents. It should be easier to buy a home than buying a home purely to let. That's not the case at the moment. I don't trust Osborne to change a thing, but that seems to be what he is trying to do.

From: Rob Davies 14 July 2015 11:22 AM

Too right, Amanda. And a proper fine, for once. £42,534 might put a few people off, although I wouldn't bet on it. Some people will just take as many risks as possible if it means they can get a bit richer and big up their ego!

From: Rob Davies 26 June 2015 16:30 PM

That might not be far off Liverpool's actual finishing position given the horrendous run of away games they start the season with :) Odds on Rodgers being the first manager to be sacked?

From: Rob Davies 18 June 2015 10:46 AM

I think mine was about £50 a week. Happy days.

From: Rob Davies 12 June 2015 10:49 AM

Yep, buy-to-letter hoovering up all the stock, leaving young first-time buyers priced out of the market. Yippee. Unfair and not sustainable. And do first-time buyers get any of the tax breaks and sweeteners that buy-to-let landlords get? Of course they don't. Apart from gimmicky rubbish like Help to Buy and Right to Buy, they're left high and dry. No wonder so many people from my generation are giving up on owning altogether. A shocking state of affairs.

From: Rob Davies 12 June 2015 10:46 AM

Oh good - more tenant-bashing. Because it's never, ever the fault of those poor little innocent landlords who only have the best interests of their tenants at heart. Honestly, the selective blindness is astonishing.

From: Rob Davies 10 June 2015 14:27 PM

And sometimes, as we've seen today, the cannabis farms are set up by the landlord who then tries to blame the tenant. Maybe the RLA should be reminding landlords as well as tenants, no?

From: Rob Davies 10 June 2015 14:25 PM

Do these dodgy landlords have no shame?

From: Rob Davies 03 June 2015 11:14 AM

And this is a bad thing? You're either committed to being a landlord or you're not. That's part of the reason so much rental stock is in such poor condition in this country, too many half-hearted, part-time landlords interested only in making as much money as possible.

From: Rob Davies 03 June 2015 11:12 AM

Well, some people have to benefit from the housing shortage. Landlords and BTL investors are doing exactly that. If we actually started to build some houses, their returns would be back to a more sensible, appropriate level. Given that there are plenty of private landlords in the government, I don't see that happening, do you? Soon enough, the PRS will be at breaking point and the housing crisis will reach emergency levels. Then, and only then, will the government act. Until such a time, tenants will be milked dry for as long as possible.

From: Rob Davies 01 June 2015 16:13 PM

Every day? I don't believe you. And even if it is the case in a small number of cases, are 11,307 people guilty of not paying their rent because they're too busy getting wasted and watching United v Arsenal on the TV. Of course they're not. While it's wrong to paint all tenants as innocents in this, it's equally ridiculous for people BTL to try and paint landlords as the victims in all this. It's things like this that are causing divisions in our society. How do you know there aren't other reasons for people being unable to pay the rent - zero-hours contracts, low-wage jobs, benefits being cut - besides booze, fags and Sky TV? How do you know that is the reason?

From: Rob Davies 18 May 2015 16:26 PM

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