to think that renters get a raw deal

[Catza]

I am in a quite an interesting position as I am currently buying a house but need to rent in the meantime.
I noticed that the treatment of renters by EAs is vastly different from buyers. Nothing about my circumstances changed: my earnings are the same, my savings are the same, I have the same job and I am the exactly same person. Yet.. when I contact EA to view a property, they are polite and helpful. When I contact one to enquire about a viewing of rental, they treat me with high suspicion, write almost confrontational emails with a long list of demands and generally make me feel like a second class citizen.
OpenRent which I have used many many time in the past has done downhill massively as well. Landlords who book viewings but don't provide property address and then disappear. Many are "away next week" and promise to get back to me, then ghost even after chasing. This morning, I had to report yet another landlord to OpenRent for failing to respond.

If anyone has been in a similar situation, did you feel this too? Or am I being a bit too sensitive due to normal house buying stress?

AIBU = I have never experienced this myself
AINBU = yes, I also feel like I am being treated poorly as a renter by EA at the enquiry stage.

We are in the position of renting for our uni aged son and also renting out a home.
The system doesn't work for anyone. The damage our previous tenants did no where near covered the months deposit we had taken.

Meanwhile, my son is dealing with a heating system that makes a horrific noise that he has reported multiple times to no avail. The last flat he rented was left in a better state than when he took it on as it hadn't even been cleaned from the last tenant when he took it on.

I think it anyone decides to be unreasonable at either end, then they're going to get the better end of the deal..The renters rights bill should help tenants at least.

I think it’s a) supply and demand (landlords can be fussy and b) business model. In the uk many landlords are unprofessional second home owners and don’t run it under business principles. They can’t afford missed rent or legal fees so push this pressure onto renters

in countries where renting is more common landlords are often long term corporate investors therefore they work at volume and don’t need to worry about business risks in the same way.

I suspect you are right, especially when there are far more renters than properties as has been the case in many areas for a long time. This seems to be changing in some areas, so perhaps the EA's attitudes will change when a renter becomes a prized commodity. It's very unfair. Apart from the need for common courtesy, your rent will be providing their commission.

I am currently deep into the purchase and my agent has been nothing but helpful. I feel very well looked after which only makes the contrast more obvious.

I have not had that experience but the fact remains, it's the seller who pays their bill and that is who they are working for. Sure they'll help you as a buyer complete but they are 100% on the side of the seller. Stands to reason.

Renters do not have money and that is all that matters in the UK. Democracy, the notion of a res publica, equality: all in thrall to money. The rot set in with Thatcher and continued with neoliberalist Blair. Then they wonder why there’s no ethics, morals or values left at the bottom of the social pyramid.

To be honest I disagree. I am on a high income and when I was renting, estate agents were really nice to me ie taking property off market before I’ve viewed it to reserve it for me, trying to be my personal consultant to find me a property, letting me see properties that weren’t even listed online yet. I think regardless of whether you’re buying or renting, estate agents are nice to you if they think they can make money off you.

I watched a documentary recently about agents from the perspective of people selling their houses and it’s the same thing - estate agents would treat unprofitable sellers differently to who they perceived as profitable. They don’t act in anyone’s interests but their own.

See my post above- they defer to rich people because they are trained to intimidate poor people (and are usually poor people themselves so there is a bit of bootlicking going on)

Your experience is very different to 2 factory workers with 3 kids. But relatively speaking, making money off both landlords

This is what it comes down to.

They need buyers.

They have more than enough renters.

looking back, even when I was on like £28k they were nice to me. I was renting in my 20s as a single person so probably low risk/desirable tenant in a sense.

In fact, I never really had a bad experience with looking for properties but I didn’t rent with children. when I was at university renting with my friends, the process was fine too. I didn’t feel looked down upon.

Tenants who decide they suddenly can’t afford the rent and don’t pay can be a massive, expensive problem that takes many months to fix.

I don’t blame estate agents for asking for excessive proof of affordability.

she's had to pay £181 for the checks to go through.

I thought that was now illegal. The landlord is supposed to pay because it’s for their benefit.

It’s a shame all the lower class serfs who can tell the stories of damp mouldy properties as standard and a few death trap wiring issues have all felt themselves barred from this website. Because we are there and still in the majority, but have no voice any more.

we had a discussion at work about renting and buying a couple of days ago.

A couple with two young children are expected to pay upto £2,000 per month to rent a house, yet in the same street, yes the same street they could own a house, pay their utilities and council tax too for £2,000.

They have been lucky in the fact that both of their parents, all the grandparents, and brothers and sisters all put in and bought a small two up two down through auction. They have gone in cleaned it thoroughly, and got a mortgage for more than is owing to everyone. Not everyone is so lucky.

i do think property buying could be alot more simple, if it was done like auction where you have to have everything in order before the sale, not after the sale like estate agents do it.

As a landlord I've had experience of EAs being rude if you opt for 'finding' service only, and manage the property yourself. They only get a one off fee, so often don't care what happens.

I self manage because the one time I let the EAs do it they never repaired anything promptly. They let my tenants live in frustration and I was disgusted when I found out. I've self managed ever since.

However, a finders fee doesn't really bring in good cash flow, so some EAs can be really off and take their time with viewings, take their time getting references etc. I now only use agents who provide a proper service. If not, I go elsewhere.

I also find, within an agency, the rental teams are brash compared to sales teams. It almost like they put juniors to rental teams to work their way up to sales.

The end of no-fault evictions is a welcome move.

However, it is only one step of many that need to be made. Estate and letting agents should be regulated and licensed, perhaps using the example of named suitable individual on the licence which applies to public houses. Yes the outcome might be fewer of them, but I don't see that as a negative.

I'd also have limitations on how much rent can be increased for an existing tenant and specific obligations around things such as working heating and plumbing.

This is because the references are the only way to lower the risk to the landlords asset. In addition, certain items within the references are required for landlord insurance.

There is nothing that is asked of a tenant, that you would not be asked by a mortgage company for example. Its all about stability, identity and affordability.

It can take up to 18 months to evict a non paying tenant, average in my area is now 14 months. After RRA, this will get worse.
Therefore, I suspect the referencing will get even more stringent.

I've only ever rented but I have to say that until I was in my current place (which I have been in for quite a while now), I found quite a few estate agents to really not be very helpful at all. Many wouldn't even respond to me when I inquired about properties, others would take ages to get back and by then the property would already be let, others would be very awkward with regards to arranging viewings (which is tricky as it is if you don't work "normal" hours sometimes). Then there are the pictures they take that make properties look deceptively bigger then they are (though I suspect this happens in both renting and buying)....it's an absolute waste of everyone's time if I turn up to view a property and it's the size of a shoebox that I can't actually "live" in decently.

This is why when I rented I avoided agencies and tried to deal with landlord myself.

We used a property company to find and vet us a tenant. Found us a single woman who worked at a Uni. When it was signed and we met her at the property to give her the keys, we were also greeted by her two children and a guy. Nothing we could do if we wanted her to pay monthly (if we had tried to evict she wouldn’t have paid for up to a year.) Lots of damage and dirt (rats) when they left. Renters can lie, even with checks.

Not to pick out yours specifically but i don’t get small landlords angst about renters who destroy the house or don’t pay.

thats the business. If you don’t like it why bother? Do something else with your time and money. It’s so weird to get involved then be surprised that there are risks that come to fruition.

as for estate agents, they don’t have long. Like recruitment consultants they are expensive middle men and AI and technology is taking over the benefits they used to add. It’s a non value add service

Even if the boiler is switched off at the plug switch?

There are up to 10 applicants for each Rental and for every 5 Rentals being sold 1 is coming onto the market
Agents are saving all of their time and effort for potential Landlords . You are easily replaceable

Yes, but many of the requests are nonsensical tick box exercises. My mother rented in between buying properties. So she'd already sold one house, had all of that cash plus savings in the bank, yet the estate agent wanted me - a twenty something on about £24k - to sign as her guarantor! My mother had already offered to pay 12 months rent up front, but no, they insisted she had to have a guarantor. Completely ridiculous.

the clause isn’t enforceable. The landlord is still responsible for the repair