Private Landlords To Lose Control

[dog]

As a tenant I have had landlords stealing my deposit. Loose floorboards in their falling down house were there because i was hiding drugs under them?!?!?! She was two tight to repair the washing machine so she paid £20 per week for 3 months so that we could have service washes at the local lauderette and then moaned that it cost her more than a new washing machine!?!?!? (I presume that came out of the deposit too).

As a landlord you will not get a decent reference unless you pay the last months rent (unless you are a wonderful tenant and I have allowed you to do that because I know the house will be spotless when you move out).

As a landlord you will definitely take longer to get your deposit back under the new system than the old one (with me as landlord). My usual procedure is to give cash or cheque (tenant choice) as you hand back the keys on the last day of the tenancy.

The bad landlords will avoid the scheme, offering shoddy property to shoddy tenants (who are not in a position to insist on the law being followed) and the only landlords taking part will be the decent ones.

Tenants have to jump through 100 hoops during the vetting process. What about making landlords produce references for prospective tenants?

[Father Fred]

Tenants have to jump through 100 hoops during the vetting process. What about making landlords produce references for prospective tenants?

As a landlord I insist on references. If I had good prospective tenants prepared to pay a relatively high rent, then I'd be more than happy for them to ask for a reference (not sure how my old tenants would feel about writing one however, I presume they wouldn't particularly feel it was their job to do that).

I am not saying tenants are at fault, but landlords are getting into a contract with a fair bit of money at stake and they take references or refuse a potential tenant based on gut feeling. Shouldn't tenants do the same? Tenants generally hate looking at propsective properties and take the first half decent thing that turns up at a half decent price, with little consideration for the landlord or agent they'll be dealing with.

I was always astonished at a letting agent near me (since gone bust having appeared on watchdog). Out of 15-20 lettings agents in the area 90% of moaning landlords and tenants who came to my office would refer to a bad experience with this lot. They were rude, scruffy, pressuring (to landlords and tenants) but people still used them. Why?

[El_Pirata]

Just spoke to a mate who has had £1,300 withheld by a dodgy landord with no justification (and even wants more money for cleaning!). The guy is distraught as he already has money problems. I suggested going round with a bunch of colombian mates to politely ask for the money but the guy lives in France so that is not an option.

So we have hit on a new plan. We are writing to tell the landlord that if he does not pay up within 21 days, we will issue him with a statutory demand. If he does not pay within 21 days of that, we then have the right to petition for him to be declared bankrupt, which will screw up his life in all sorts of ways.

If he is not an idiot he will pay up and save himself a lot of hassle.

Edited January 21, 2006 by El_Pirata

[dog]

As a landlord I insist on references. If I had good prospective tenants prepared to pay a relatively high rent, then I'd be more than happy for them to ask for a reference (not sure how my old tenants would feel about writing one however, I presume they wouldn't particularly feel it was their job to do that).

I am not saying tenants are at fault, but landlords are getting into a contract with a fair bit of money at stake and they take references or refuse a potential tenant based on gut feeling. Shouldn't tenants do the same? Tenants generally hate looking at propsective properties and take the first half decent thing that turns up at a half decent price, with little consideration for the landlord or agent they'll be dealing with.

I was always astonished at a letting agent near me (since gone bust having appeared on watchdog). Out of 15-20 lettings agents in the area 90% of moaning landlords and tenants who came to my office would refer to a bad experience with this lot. They were rude, scruffy, pressuring (to landlords and tenants) but people still used them. Why?

There are risks for both sides. The cost removal costs for a tenant can be formidable (especially if you rent a large house unfurnished), then there is the cost of the legal agreement and the hassle and time required to move. Most of all however, there is a big personal price to pay for renting a bad property (see Elizabeth's account).

I have not had a serious problem with a landlord (although they always find an excuse to chisel some of my deposit) but that is more to do with luck than anything. As a tenant, I have no way of finding out whether a landlord is a problem in advance.

On the question of references, this cuts both ways. There are plenty of landlords who 'don't particularly feel it was their job to do that'.

The risk to landlords is probably overstated. I have personnally have never known anyone who abused their rented property. I suspect that many landlords are a bit paranoid because maybe they are cheating on their insurance (by not declaring the nature of the use).