To think bad landlords outnumber good ones

[ThisLimeMoose]

I know there are decent landlords out there and I’m not saying they don’t exist. But looking at the volume of rental horror stories - repairs ignored, sudden notices, pressure tactics, poor communication, it sometimes feels like genuinely good landlords are the exception rather than the rule. Just wondered whether others feel the same or whether it’s just that bad experiences are more visible and people don’t talk about the good ones as much.

AIBU?

Do you think bad tenants outnumber good ones? Trashing the place, not paying rent,…you hear so many horror stories, no wonder LLs are selling up.

I'll go...

First rental was at uni. Everything got repaired on time but the guy was creepy and made sexualised remarks towards me and the three other girls I live with. Was decent with the house, but utter weirdo.

Second rental was let to me for 6 months then decided he wanted to sell so was kicked out pretty pronto.

Third was a studio let out by a lovely woman who used to bring me fresh fruit.

Then lived as a lodger with a woman in her 40s, I was in my 20s. Was brilliant and we had such a laugh.

Then rented another place with a boyfriend. Landlord was decent. Actually lowered the rent when market rates dropped.

Then I rented a place on my own. Gorgeous place. Never met the landlord but I paid my rent, lived in the property. And left after two years. No issues at all.

Next place was a nightmare. Flickering lights deemed a fire hazard by an electrician. He refused to fix Then put my rent up from 850 to 1300 after 6 months so I left. Housing association were great though and took him off their books and refused to let him let through them again.

Current landlord is fab. Kept my rent low. Only gone up £20 a year. Fixed my broken boiler within 6 hours. Let me paint. Sends a Christmas card.

Generally, some bad but mostly ol or good experiences!

I think bad tenants have the upper hand over bad landlords. I understand that it must be difficult to have a bad landlord and it isn’t easy to just find another property but a bad tenant can stay for years without paying the rent and trash the place before the LL can get them out.

No good Landlords by a long way outnumber bad ones, but those aren't the ones you hear about.

"Yeah my Landlord is a nice enough bloke, he has only put the rent up 5% over the last 5 years and agreed to a carpet clean if I renewed" wont make an exciting headline or a god MN post.

There probably are bad tenants too. But one side owns the asset and holds most of the power/security in the relationship, which changes the impact quite a bit.

I don’t agree that the LL holds the power as the laws stand.

I agree one side holds the power, but it isn't the LL.

I’ve rented four different places, and in all cases had good landlords.

Not at all correct. The LL doesn’t hold any power at all, they can just watch while waiting for a court order which takes at least a year. The tenant however can leave any time with a months notice if something better comes along, or enjoy a year of rent-free living.

Exactly, and trash the place and then disappear owing tens of thousands of pounds to the landlord.
FWIW, I’m a tenant (despite owning my own property) so I’m not biased. I wouldn’t dare to invest my savings in BTL because of the number of awful tenants out there.

Buy to lets for the small time LL are dead, you need I think at least ten to make it work.

I think tenants who have experienced all or the majority of tenancies with issues with their landlords might want to think why that might be.

About 50:50 in my experience, but the bad ones are truly nasty people who seem to enjoy screwing people over. The good ones are just OK and don't try to shaft you. It's a low bar.

Faux-naïf posts make me gag.

I was a LL, managed property, everything fixed ASAP via letting agents tradesmens. Gave tenant a months free rent when her baby was stillborn. Missed the opportinuty to sell it a the top of the market as didn't want to serve notice on my tenants. Sold it as soon as they gave notice as the new rental rules were coming in in Wales.

DP has 2 properities, he is a kitchen/ bathroom fitter (plumber, tiler, plasterer) by trade and his properties are like show homes as he renovated them to a really high spec. He has a tenant moving out soon and will be completely redecorating between tenancies (his friend is then moving in), all his tennants have been known to him prior to renting to them, so his properties never get advertised on the open market. He will be buying his third property soon.

One of my friends has multiple properties (residential and commericial), they are kept immaculate by her, but not always by the tennants (I have helped her with end of tenancy clear outs a couple of times), she goes above and beyond with fire safety (including fire escape ladders).

So yes there are good landlords, but you likely need to be good tenants that come with recommendations word of mouth to get in these properties when they come up after long term tenacies end.

YABU. I would be astonished if bad landlords weren't massively outnumbered by good ones. I was amazed to read recently that nearly half of all rental property was owned by small landlords who only owned one or two properties. These are often accidental LLs, who are renting out their own former homes and maybe intending to go back again at some point. These people want good tenants and will look after them to keep them. There is no way they would leave repairs undone long term.

It’s the same old story nobody via ever vocal about a good experience but they’ll shout from the rooftops about a bad one

so by default you’ll only ever really hear about bad ones

Our landlord is a bit of both.
Very hands off, hasn't put up the rent once in 6 years, but i suspect that is more to do with the mandatory modernisation that will be needed before it can be re-let if we leave.

Repairs are very very slow and everything is done on the super cheap and very slapdash.
We'd be happy to slap a nice fresh coat of paint on the whole place if they just replaced the blown plaster for example. Been waiting 2 years...

People don’t talk about good landlords or just those that do their jobs. Equally nobody talks about good tenants just bad ones. Most of both and good or simply no trouble

Exactly

I've rented a lot and also been a landlord myself.

I had 50/50 when I was renting (over 10 years) but a lot of it was when I was very young or a student and so I guess I was renting the cheapest places. Some of the landlords were nice but stingy. Agencies like Foxtons a nightmare.

When I was a landlord for a short time as I bought a place then moved abroad - I was really good to my tenants (fixed things straight away and lowered rent during the pandemic) but actually 2 out of 3 of them weren't great and trashed the property and didn't pay their rent on time and lied to me about stuff. I sold up for that reason. I have a house I don't live in at the moment and I rather Air BnB it than rent it long term out also due to all the rules and regulations on long term rentals. You also make no money - you'd be lucky if you cover costs.

I think regulations were needed but they've gone too far now. The taxation is the bit that puts you off most as you can't offset your mortgage, but you could be paying 40% tax so making a loss.

I've not really had any horrific stories and I've been renting privately for over 20 years. I've had at least a dozen different landlords in that time and can only think of one really poor one. I mean, he was spectacularly poor. I was renting a room and was working nights and found out that he was charging some poor woman to sleep in my bed. I don't think it gets worse than this.

However, I've also been a landlord and out of four tenants, two moved out with my washing machine (which EA failed to notice) and one ended up not paying rent for three years (COVID restrictions meant I had to wait all this time for a court date to get them evicted). So tenants are not looking great as far as I am concerned.

I am both a landlord and live in a rental property so have a landlord!! (Complicated reasons as to why this is…) and I am definitely a much better landlord than my landlord is!!!! Lived experience!

My db’s landlord sold up in fear of the renters’ reforms. She was a good landlord owning only the one rental. This has plunged my db into a financial mess.

YANBU the government even had to make it a legal requirement to protect a deposit because greedy ass landlords weren't returning them.