Every seven minutes a private renter in England is given eviction notice even though they have done nothing wrong.

One sold fast, this one was on sale for 2 years while I had no security & constant buyers in! It was listed as with Sitting Tenant! 2 separate would be buyers told me that if they bought it, the rent would increase or I would be out! Thankfully the property never sold but because of this I now have a Rolling contract with no security.

And this is exactly the consequences that I tried to explain in my post @ 22.27 yesterday. If, and when, this property is sold to an investor, they will, in all probability, require that the property be vacated whilst they undertake vital modernisation and safety upgrades. SillyNanny123 would then be temporarily homeless until the upgrades are completed. Once the works are completed, assuming the property is to go back onto the rental market, they will seek to recover their costs for those improvements by charging a higher monthly rent, as SillyNanny123 has confirmed. Simply stating The "wealthy" who snap up the bargain properties would have to be stopped from evicting and re-letting at a higher rent, would be self defeating; landlords would simply stop improving or maintaining their properties properly if they knew that they couldn't recoup their costs and that would lead to more slum landlords. It is precisely because most private landlords do have an emotional attachment to their properties that they want to care for, invest in and maintain their properties whilst retaining good and responsible tenants. But, if you remove their option to sell that property at any time, remember that it will come with the above consequences. Putting embargoes and legal restrictions on one sector of the property rental industry will simply enlarge and strengthen another that is potentially worse.

If Margaret Thatcher had brought in that right to buy we would be in as much mess as we are now

growstuff

Gagajo How come you couldn't keep money for a professional clean? How much had you allocated for fair wear and tear and how often had the property been inspected while you were away?

1) Tenants are responsible for cleaning a property before they move out. I should not have to pay for a professional clean.

In this case, floors hadn't been washed. I honestly thought the white painted floors had discoloured. No. It was just dirt. When I washed them, it came off.

The carpet in the living room was stained. I thought (again) the stains were not removeable. No. When I cleaned the carpet they came out.

I was a tenant for many, many years. I know the drill. You clean the house, including the oven. As a tenant you move into a clean house and you leave the house clean. The house was clean for the tenants and it was filthy when they left.

2) Wear and tear is a different matter. Paintwork doesn't have to be pristine. It is absolutely a property needs repainting between tenants.

3) The property had supposedly been inspected while I'd been away. But how well it had been inspected was debateable, because the agent also inspected before the tenants left and said it was in good order.

When I drove past the house while I was away (back on holiday), I saw an external drip from the overflow pipe. Not reported to the agent by the tenant. I reported it. Got them to get it fixed AND to have the stain down the side of the house cleaned off.

I think £4,000 worth of damage in 4 years is a little excessive. New paint? Absolutely. New carpets? Possible, although replacing carpets after 4 years is more than fair wear and tear. Unreported flood damage in a bathroom, requiring a new floor (joists, floor boards) is not wear and tear. It is either a genuine problem which wasn't reported or it was negligence. Either way, they didn't have to take any responsibility for it, because I paid for it. Not them.

Sago

We live in a lovely Victorian tree lined Avenue in a conservation area, it’s a good mix of young families, retired people etc.
We have an HMO a few doors down with a completely nasty tenant, he was drumming full blast all hours of the day and night, eventually I spoke to the landlord who said he would evict him as the Police had been involved and the Environmental Health.
9 months on he is still there, the landlord gave him a second chance.
A few weeks ago my husband met a neighbour and his 9 year old son in front of the HMO and started a conversation.
The tenant banged on the windows, flew into a rage and screamed that my husband was a nonce and a paedophile, this was at 3.30 with an Avenue full of children and their parents.
He then said that if they didn’t move he would stand and masturbate in the window.
The Police were called it took a month for statements to be taken, the tenant is still there, other neighbours have had similar incidents.
It seems this man has still not done enough to be evicted.

A friend of mine lives in a lovely street but two properties are owned by a private landlord.
The tenants are absolutely appalling and problems have existed for a long time.
Despite numerous complaints to the council, all she's told is "private landlords so very little we can do".
From what I've seen and heard, I'd imagine the landlord is scared and therefore is unwilling to act.
However he doesn't have to live there!

growstuff

I agree with you nadateturbe. I live in a rented house and have done for 8 years. My landlord is wonderful - I couldn't wish for better. However, he's not young and the time will come when he wants to sell up or will die and leave the house to his heirs and that's always hanging over me. At current prices, I wouldn't be able to rent anywhere else. Fortunately for me personally, I'm planning to move in with my partner in the next year or so, but if I hadn't met him, I would have been forced to look for social housing.

My landlord's children will inherit my house and would possibly want to sell it. Even if a law prevented them from doing that, they would still be receiving rental income which they personally have never earned. The law should give tenants rights, which they currently don't have.

Owning rental property should be seen as a long term investment. If private landlords don't want to take that view, the government should be stepping in and seeing housing as a national concern.

I’m with you @growstuff. My partner and I have been privately renting for five years. Lovely house and never had a rent increase. The landlord knows we are good tenants and has left us to it. But I know the time will come they want to sell up to retire and we will be out. I don’t blame the landlord, that’s why he bought it to rent in the first place. But my partner, two dogs and I will be stuffed! No where takes dogs these days due to the deposit issue (I’m not entirely sure of the exact system) and we will never be able to afford something with a garden. It worries me sick the day that phone call comes and I have no idea what we will do.

I have lived in this rental property for 13 years! Nothing much has been done to it in that time! I applied for a grant for a Wet Room then a few years later another grant for a new boiler. The Landlord had another Lean-to built to replace the one that he put his foot through the disintegrating floor. 3 years ago the Landlords sisters, joint owners after Father dying, wanted to sell the two properties. One sold fast this one was on sale for 2 years while I had no security & constant buyers in! It was listed as with Sitting Tenant! 2 separate would be buyers told me that if they bought it the rent would increase or I would be out! Thankfully the property never sold but because of this I now have a Rolling contract with no security! My rent has just been increased along with increase in Utilities & food bills etc! I now need an increase in my pittance of a pension by £170 per month! Is that likely to happen? A big fat NO!! I have claimed everything I can as a disabled pensioner but still pay more than my son pays for a mortgage on a large 3 bedroomed house! I wish I had not sold my house but struggled on to pay the mortgage instead of listening to those who told me to sell & rent it would be easier! No way is it easier! I am sick of this & my life, thank the Gods I will not be here much longer as at 77 I did not think I could sink this low! Sorry if I have rambled on off topic & annoyed a lot of people but this is how renting has made me feel!

We have owned two properties with my sister-in-law that we rent out since the early 1990s and the existing tenants have each been there for over 12 years both at way below market rent. We are very good landlords and we act immediately if anything needs to be repaired/replaced. However, we are in our late seventies/early eighties and the admin, tax returns etc is getting too much for us and we are looking to sell. Are we to be condemned for making these tenants homeless even though we are happy to give them plenty of notice?

growstuff, you say you have no idea what trashing a property means. You have been given examples here. When I told you about my Mum's experience of having excrement smeared on the walls your reply was that it would have had to be cleaned anyway. Not to that extent it wouldn't, but thanks for the sympathy. You really do have a downer on anyone who has the temerity to rent out a property and still consider that they own it don't you?

Gagajo How come you couldn't keep money for a professional clean? How much had you allocated for fair wear and tear and how often had the property been inspected while you were away?

GagaJo

Speaking as a landlord, and with a friend that is also a landlord, I can say categorically, that good tenants are like hen's teeth. The rent on the flat I let out is ridiculously low and has not changed since my tenant moved in over 3 years ago. I will not put it up and would do almost anything to keep him. He's clean, responsible and a really nice guy.

Now, I know there will be thousands of great tenants like him who get treated badly. But from a landlords perspective, it benefits me to keep my lovely tenant.

We've all heard the horror stories of dodgy tenants. When I returned from overseas and moved back into my house, it was filthy. And there was approx. £4,000 of damage. Despite this, I only managed to retain £80 of their deposit (letting agency rules).

My point is, be a great tenant. Quiet. Clean. Keep the property in excellent order. Be an asset a good landlord can't afford to lose.

I don't think good tenants are like hen's teeth. If they are, there are an awful lot of hen's teeth living in my road.

In any case, this thread is about tenants who have done nothing wrong, who (I expect) are in the majority.

Teacheranne The owner should have invested properly in an agent. It sounds as though he/she tried to to it on the cheap.

The flat you're selling Jess20 will still be somebody's home. Somebody else might take the risk of becoming a landlord or somebody might be able to take on a mortgage and buy their own home. Good, honest people won't lose out.

growstuff

JenniferEccles

I’m perfectly sure you know exactly what I mean by tenants trashing a property before they are evicted growstuff.
It most certainly isn’t normal wear and tear.

Touch wood we have been lucky over the years with our tenants but it is the fear of inadvertently getting a rogue one which persuaded us to take out the rent guarantee insurance, even though that (unlike the rent we charge) most definitely does go up every year.

What price peace of mind though?

No, I have no idea what trashing a property means. Thinking about my own house, I really don't know what I could do to trash it.

As I wrote, the landlord knows he would have to redecorate, lay new carpets and buy new white goods when I leave. If he has had any sense, he's been putting away 15% over 8 years of my rent to pay for that (approx £12,000). I'm obliged to pay for professional cleaning or have the amount deducted from my damage deposit. The walls would all be washed down/redecorated anyway and the landlord needs to factor that in to his tax deductible expenses.

I guess the house next door to me was trashed rather than left in a “ used condition”. My neighbour died during the first lockdown and her daughter decided to let it straight away fully furnished rather than renovate it first due to the logistics of living hundreds of miles away in a pandemic.

The tenant, a mother with 18 year old son moved in and all was well at first, I chatted to her over the fence and she seemed pleasant enough. She obviously had a job as I saw her leaving in her car each morning and her son was at home all day, working from home at the local 6th college. After the summer, things began to change, the garden was totally neglected and two scrap cars were parked on the front lawn. They got a very large dog which kept jumping into my garden so I had to have higher fences installed. I noticed that the curtains were never open and looked quite shabby with tears and dirt on them.

I did not have any means of contacting the owners but luckily the neighbours did not bother me, they were not noisy and did not appear to have many visitors so I was unaware of any problems. However, after a year, the tenants left as the new owners were ready to modernise and sell the property. That’s when the full picture emerged, the interior of the house was in an appalling state, not just wear and tear. There was a dart board on one wall with hundreds of holes where darts had been thrown, the lounge carpet was sticky with spilt beer and covered with takeaway boxes and partially eaten food. The dog had been kept in the spare bedroom and allowed to soil the carpet, which stank, and had scratched the door and walls very badly. The kitchen worktops had burn marks from hot pans and for some reason there was a hole in the floorboards exposing the floor space below. Rubbish had been pushed through this hole to partially fill the floor space and there was evidence of mice and also maggots in the food waste down there. I’m not going to describe the state of the bathroom!

I know the new owner was planning to replace the kitchen and bathroom but holes in doors, floors and walls, rotten floorboards underneath the soiled carpets, light fittings hanging off, mouldy rubbish in the floor space etc was not just wear and tear - that was a trashed house!

Caro57

What about the owner who may have a change of circumstances and need their house back?
I was a private landlord and ended up having to replace the sewage system in the house because the tenants used ‘baby wipes’. I had to fumigate the house because the cats - which they were not meant to keep - left fleas. I had to replace the kitchen cabinet doors because they smashed one and didn’t report it. They deferred on rent constantly ‘stringing me along’ - I loved that house, it had been my home but they destroyed any feelings I had for it and, once they left, I sold it - I will never be a landlord again - it’s thankless

Landlords must never have an emotional attachment to their properties. Somebody else is paying rent and it becomes their home, not yours.

The issue is about the scarcity of homes, the selling off of the council housing really began the slide into insecure tenancies for the most vulnerable. Private landlords filled the gap, encouraged by cheap buy to let mortgages and tax breaks, many seeing this as an opportunity to invest in property for their pensions. As private citizens surely we have the right to ask for our property back as we may need to sell to release the money we have invested. These days, after changes in taxation and numerous new regulations, many landlords find the numbers aren't stacking up any more and they won't be able or willing to keep tenants at a loss, particularly as tenants can sometimes antisocial, fail to pay the rent and can cause thousands of pounds worth of damage. I am about to sell a flat that would be a lovely rental home but I'm not prepared to risk getting stuck with a bad tenant that I can't get to leave in a reasonable time frame, someone who wrecks my flat and may cost me a fortune in lost income - and I'd still have to keep paying the mortgage, insurance, service charges, repairs, safety certificates and upgrades etc etc. I know several people who, like myself, have had spare properties at one time or another and all of us look at the current and anticipated changes in tax and regulation and think renting out these places is not worth doing any longer. The Government seem to want to make small landlords with only one or two rentals leave the sector and get big businesses involved in housing provision instead - hopefully not in the footsteps of people like Furgus Walsh. Meanwhile, good, honest people can't find homes.

I couldn't agree with you more Amalegra.

The problem is that, unlike in Europe, where renting is far more the norm, there are many private individuals in the UK who are landlords rather than property companies whose business depends on attracting good long term tenants. This imbalance causes a great deal of instability in the rental market. As is stated here, a house can be let to several individuals as rooms sharing facilities and bring in a far higher return than a single family. Let’s face it, the housing system in this country is broken and has been for decades. and no government has the guts or morality to tackle it. Social housing is neglected and scarce now many of the council houses have been sold off for a song, many of which are back on the market as private rentals! Lots of people are making a great deal of money from the public purse considering it was taxation that paid for the houses to be built in the first place. Rentals should be more secure in order to build thriving communities where people can put down roots and children can live a decent and secure life. We should look at the European model, encourage investment and build more affordable and social housing. This would encourage private landlords up their game. Ignoring the problem of substandard, insecure and expensive housing reflects poorly on the society that enables that neglect.

I do feel your pain. I was a private landlord for a while. But there must be an answer that will protect both sides

Sadly I wouldn't expect anything better from the narcissistic bullies currently running the country. Housing is a national emergency and something should be done about the whole situation, before we have even more homeless on the streets

What about the owner who may have a change of circumstances and need their house back?
I was a private landlord and ended up having to replace the sewage system in the house because the tenants used ‘baby wipes’. I had to fumigate the house because the cats - which they were not meant to keep - left fleas. I had to replace the kitchen cabinet doors because they smashed one and didn’t report it. They deferred on rent constantly ‘stringing me along’ - I loved that house, it had been my home but they destroyed any feelings I had for it and, once they left, I sold it - I will never be a landlord again - it’s thankless

Agree with your post of 10.26 totally Gagajo

Smileless2012

I agree Callistemon and it's about time those properties were closed down and the tenants rehoused.

I've posted before about this but worth repeating that Stuart Andrew, the new housing minister appointedby Johnson in Feb 2022, was one of the 72 Tory MP who were also landlords who voted against a 2016 Labour amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill, which would have obliged landlords to provide their tenants with accommodation fit for human habitation.

I agree Callistemon and it's about time those properties were closed down and the tenants rehoused.

mumofmadboys

We need more state owned housing with reasonable rents. Some landlords are more concerned to line their own pockets than provide good quality housing at reasonable rents people can afford.

Yes we do and it needs to be fit for purpose.

Some of the properties we've seen recently on television are disgraceful and downright dangerous, thick mould, ceilings collapsing etc.