The day the landlords moved in

[Ineedagoodusername]

Is anyone watching this? The second landlord with his disgustingly extravagant lifestyle is making me so angry. The communal areas in his flats are horrific.

I think decent is a male poster and doesn't have English as a first language.

Back to the programme...

The issue really is that vulnerable people are subject to the whims of the free market. This is daft. The UK should build more council houses. Housing security that pays for itself for those who need it and the worst landlords letting out the cheapest properties would have their revenue source (housing benefit) cut off at the source.

The sale of council houses should be stopped immediately and never restarted - it is a direct wealth transfer from the state, that is everyone in the UK, to private landlords. It's insane.

i do agree little. my dad is very old and said that in the days before council properties everyone had a landlord and had to rent privately. selling off council stock in the 80s onwards has driven us the problems we now face with the lack of affordable homes.
councils also couldnt replace the stock that was sold on, forcing people now to go back to the private rents.
its very sad and been kicked in the long grass by governments for years. The ones that cash in are the private LL's and ones that have seen their council properties rocket in price and they have been able to move away from the council areas ( not everyone, but most people i know did this!) Housing needs a shake up. but nobody seems to want to tackle it.

I don't read decent's posting as adverts at all. She is just giving us insights into how a good landlord should behave, which is relevant to this thread.

I agree.

Thank you for your supportive posts Stopnamechanging and others.

The BBC commisoned this documentary in order to turn the tables on LLs and to see how they would feel in a tenants position. As many people recognise it is often a case of ''there but for the grace of god' etc.

Yet, god forbid I should derail a thread about a TV show that explores LLs' relationships and attitudes towards their tenants by, erm.. discussing a LL's attitude towards tenants!!

Decent, that you post at length about your personal actions and philosophies as a LL and then say that my experience as a tenant affected by LLs is off topic!! [shocked]

Well, no.Decent. Since you are directly addressing people and this thread with lists of all your good deeds and 'exemplary' behaviour as a LL, I will directly address you and this thread with our predicament and directly challenge your views and your discrimination ere, since the themes discussed in the documentary and your own freely esposued policies have a direct effect on us and and many people like us. What better place can there be than a discussion thread inspired by a documentary that explores just such relationships and where people have come to discuss the show?

This thread does not exist simply to be your personal masterclass on how to be a good LL. I find it extremely arrogant that you should think you may post here at length unchallenged, and extraordinarily arrogant that you think that people may like to learn and follow your example from your blog (!!!) when you freely advocate and justify discrimination against disabled people by denying them something as basic and essential as somewhere to live because it may cause you hassle.

And I will also challenge where your arguments perpetuate the myth that all benefit tenants are too much hassle because of the system. We have never once in 12 years of renting casued a problem to our LLs though our actions or through issues with payments etc. Shame I cannot say the same in reverse.

I have done everything in my power to try to get something done/ changed etc etc to no avail. And posted as widely as I am able given my circumstances and the impossible demands on my time/ health/ energy.

Thankfully there are other people who are aware and care about the terrible situtations (eg living in a tent to avoid going to separate hostels miles from home, that would split a disabled husband from his wife and carer) that other people have to go through as I cannot do it alone. But please, if anyone else wants to write to their MP to help people like us, we would very, very much appreciate the support.

I can tell you that if I ever have money or win the lottery that I will not be looking to maximise my profit or to live an easy life with fast cars and lots of holidays, but actually do something to help people.

Dear KidneyBeanBag

Clearly, from your posts, life has dealt you a difficult hand, but you have not asked anything about our lives but have gone on to assume so many things.

For example, you know nothing about the good work that we have done for the Leonard Cheshire (VC) foundation - DO YOU?

You don't know about my homeless situation at the age of 15? - DO YOU? or almost becoming a victim of a paedophile at the age of 11 - DO YOU? Having Alcoholic parents to deal with - DO YOU? Living in a violent household - DO YOU? There are other problems I have had to deal with in life that is extremely personal to mention but, wait you're THE VICTIM here.

Somehow you feel comfortable along with your cohorts in trying to drag down someone who is doing the right thing when it comes to looking after tenants welfare.

Lets put this into perspective.

How would you feel if someone was to comment on what you spend your income on?

What rights would they have to examine what you put into your shopping trolley? How dare they you may say or perhaps you're ok with people opining your choices.

Here's the harsh reality, I'm not a rich person, don't have swanky holidays or even a holiday each year; on average we have a holiday every two years.

There are no trappings wealth or anything like the vision you have painted.

I'm a hard working person who has over the past 31 years sacrificed so much and managed to scrape together money to purchase some property as a possible income source when I get too old to work, or need care.

I don't have a pension to fall back on, so what is so wrong with what I have done?

Yes, I have worked very hard like many people do and mostly these are 10 - 12 hour days for over 31 years.

Paid my TAX (important note - TAX the money that goes into the coffers of Gov to support people who need help).

Finally, after I have paid my TAX, and what little I have left I have taken the hit and put it to some good by taking homes that were often derelict and an eyesore/blight in neighbourhoods and did them to exceptionally high standards.

Then I have looked after the people who rent them.

What at an evil scum bag I am. How dare I have the right to choose what I do with my money - what was I thinking? How dare I have the rights to choose who goes into one of these properties. How dare I....

Seriously, you need help, and objectively you need to approach the people who are in a position to help such as the government - that is my TAX that I have had to hand over has gone - do you understand this??? I have paid stupid amounts of TAX and this has gone into the pockets of Government to be then redistributed to help people like you who qualify for help.

When I was homeless at 15, I had to relocate towns. I could not traditionally finish my education and had to spend a further eight years studying at night while earning a poxy £25 per week. Living in a shared house and waking up to haveing what little money I had stolen from my pants pockets while I slept.

I have slept rough in a coal bunker on a cold winters night - please DO NOT SIT AT YOUR KEYBOARD AND MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

Yes, you have problems in your life to deal with, so do I and so do many others. That is life, so please before you decide to have a go at your next victim, please qualify things in advance before you launch your venomous attack.

If I/we were treating people badly then fair enough, but we are not.

If the only "Fault" on our behalf is choosing what to spend our hard earned money on as a fall back in later life is a few properties that were knackered and distressed for the people locally, and that we choose not to accept people who don't have the means to pay for a property due to relying on UC, then someone, please tell me what on earth does one need to do, so when that fateful day comes, and I'm trying to get into heaven I don't face this same situation of trying to be good.

WOW. That is quite a post. I think others will find what you have written in response to my post quite interesting. I struck a nerve I think!!

For the record I made no assumptions about you at all, unless you count what I pereceived to be arrogance, which was gained directly from what your conduct on this thread, and your suggestion that I was off topic but your own lengthy, opinion laden posts were not. I did not refer to your personal life or history, only the opinions you volunteered.

I made a short parting comment about the lifestyle I personally would not lead , if I won the lottery or had any wealth ie not like a stereotypical lottery winner. That is all. I really wish I had the means to make a real difference.

I act ethically to the absolute best of my ability and think very carefully about the choices I make. I also feel guilt and remorse when I cannot make as ethical a choice as I would wish to and I do all that I can to avoid it and/or try to do better next time. I am open to scrutiny and am happy to discuss my dilemmas as and when.

I also do not post on discussion boards about my personal actions and views without accepting that people will quite naturally scrutinse and comment upon them. That is the point of a discussion board. And I presume you watched the BBC show in order to observe and form opinions did you not? And then came here to what... share them with others?! Is it OK for you to opine about yourself and other people, but not the other way round?

I think we've had a mini episode of the BBC documentary right here on this thread!

I think your main mistake was failing to kiss decent's saintly fireguarded arse.

Thisarmingman :) I just won't play the game will I?! :)

The thing is, I have to see my poor lovely DH suffering terribly because of people like this..and for his sake and others, I just will not go away quietly and be someone else's problem

What was I thinking?

You are disingenuous in your assertion that you are "suffering terribly because of people like this." when you ought to know full well that support is available to those who need it the most.

Please, feel free to read and understand the following.
www.gov.uk/dla-disability-living-allowance-benefit/overview

Every government in a civilised society account for people who are less fortunate and need support.

They do this by collecting TAX and then redistributing the money to people less fortunate. People who pay TAX are in effect, giving up part of their lives while working to pay TAX to support people just like you.

If there is insufficient money to go around, then the TAX system is tweaked to compensate.

Like many others, we pay our TAX, and that goes to support people like you. But we don't stop there; we support a lot of charities, and we do excellent work by providing high standards of accommodation.

N.B. that was the only point we originally wanted to make that high standards can be achieved by Landlords such as ourselves.

If you feel that you are not getting the support you need, then that is a matter for you to take up with the local authority and as I have previously suggested, perhaps raise this with your local MP.

If you want help, then say you want help but to launch an attack on someone who is doing good is not the way to gain help.

For ourselves, we simply do not have the resources to understand the UC system, but there are Landlords out there who do.

It's not wrong for us to make this choice.

decenthumanbeing, I don't care about your fire doors.

We should not be grateful that your profitable business deigns to offer tenants (at least, those without disability and who don't need benefits.. the worthy) a basic standard of living.

You are profiting from buying up limited housing stock and turning it over as if homes are business. To benefit YOU. You are part of a corrupt system.

Don't come here and patronise people about lifestyle blogs and charity donations.

If your life experiences had taught you anything you'd accept DSS. But like millions of landlords you "don't have the appetite" and only rent to those you consider worthy.

Change your username to playingthesystemforprofit.

Dear KidneyBeanBag,

Reviewing your earliest post.

"The poorest and most vulnerable shoud not be victimised further for UC when they did not choose it." Totally agree with you

You (and thousands like you) would deny me a home through no fault of my own (and with flawless credit etc) knowing full well there is nothing from the council to fall back on - I don't know this, please don't assume so either. Where are you in the country so I can try to understand your problem better

justify it because you don't want the hassle. Well, I can tell you that no one on UC wants the hassle either but we have no choice. We would also very much like not to be unwell. -

I understand and Sympathise - both my parents were in a council house with ill health, but at the time I had no means to help them while they were alive. I have lobbied against UC - I did try and did mention this previously.

The stress of being homeless and desperate for a house for several years thorugh no fault of our own (LLs selling up etc) has made our health even worse and my husband suicidal.

You need to get a council property and stay away from the private sector. I would much prefer to see more council homes built to protect people like you, but during all the meetings I have with people at Gov level, they tell me they simply don't have the money. I too have been homeless as a child, tell me about it.

The all consuming daily horror of having to constantly make phone calls to agents and LLs and sell yourself; to cajole, persuade to beg but yet to try not to cry or come across as too desperate, only to be constantly denied often 10 times a day, is completely and utterly soul destroying.

I need to understand where you are in the UK

But go ahead and write a very long post about your fire doors and smoke dectectors and your lightbulbs, and ignore the fact that you are part of a system that actually destroys lives because that is what you are inflicting on people by your choices.

I don't agree; the properties are empty homes that are knackered. Anyone could have purchased them. I have not purchased a local authority property for a low price and deprived anyone. They were all empty homes.

You do have the power to do good, but crucially, you also have the power to choose who deserves to benefit from that good, and the power to deny people a home to live in. That is an immense power to have over people's lives.

Choosing tenants can be very hard indeed regardless of methods of income. It is often the hardest part of the process.

Dear Alpacasandwich

I'm not buying up limited housing stock; they are all empty property that have been boarded up for years. We are providing homes that in effect don't exist.

Dear Alpacasandwich

Another point is, you are excusing the government of their social responsibility and blaming private individuals/Landlords. Moreover tarring everyone with the same brush.

Government are failing people

I moved in with my partner and rent out my small cottage to a young woman with a disability and who is on benefits.

I approached a charity so I could rent out to someone who would benefit the most.

You are making a profit from a broken system and are morally reprehensible. Stop blaming the govt when you're part of this.

Hi Freyanna

Well done.

I will stand my ground on this forum, and I cannot wait for negative comments so that I can address them one by one - Bring it on folk.

People are too keen to jump to conclusions without asking questions first.

Supporting Charity. People choose who they wish to support and you may like to support every charity that exists, but often you can't and have to choose - does that make anyone a bad person?

We have had many meetings with the Veterans Association Uk to house people who have left the armed forces who have given up and risked their lives to protect us in society.

We are buying up empty property that has been empty for several years and turning them around to exceptionally high standards to home people who are vulnrable.

No one has considered that we may be doing good in other ways, but seem happy vent their frustrations my way - and I don't mind because I understand their upset caused by bad landlords.

We are also building some apartments and we have DDA compliance on the ground floor for people with disabilities. Because the building preexisted and it's a conversation DDA was not mandatory but we did it anyway.

When I did a lot of work for the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, it really opened my eyes to people situations.

There is nowhere in any my posts that I have discriminated against people, especially with disabilities.

There seems to be an assumption at play that disability = DSS/HB/UC - not so, Disability does not mean you are on benefits.

The problem is the present day system with UC for people who need financial help and we are too small to have the resources to deal with it.

We have approached a housing association and have talks with the CEO to provide housing for them to manage the UC situation a couple of years ago but these things take time.

But I'm loving the posts from people - often make me smile because I know what we're doing is right even if they don't.

Stop posting here, no one cares! This is a thread about a TV show and all you're doing is going on about you!

Hi alpacasandwich,

Please use your vote to fix the broken system.

We are taking property that has been empty for years, boarded up and investing more money far beyond what the property is actually worth.

If we stopped tomorrow and ceased to do this, It would be a very long time indeed to see any profit, so NO, we are not profiting and won't for a long long, long time.

But what we are doing is taking the risk that others don't appear to want to do, buying up the empty derelict properties and providing decent quality homes.

I don't see anyone else doing this.

If you feel so strong about this, why don't you put your money where your mouth is, buy something and offer it to someone so that they can have somewhere to live.

You don't have to charge them anything if you dont wish to.

Dear alpacasandwich

For the people who dont care - simples, dont read the posts.

It was a good thread til you took it over like you take over peoples' homes. Fucking entitled behaviour, posting your endless essays.

Dear dear me,

What bit of creating a home for someone that otherwise did not exist did you not understand? Empty house???? not being used because it was defunct, knackered, needed pulling down, eyesore and blight in the neighbourhood?

Everything we do creates a SAFE place for people to live, moreover affordable with low rents and low running costs because of the eco measures we paid for.

Try to keep up.

The thing is, I have to see my poor lovely DH suffering terribly because of people like this..and for his sake and others, I just will not go away quietly and be someone else's problem

She or he has been accused of being saintly but the following is also pretty saintly I act ethically to the absolute best of my ability and think very carefully about the choices I make. I also feel guilt and remorse when I cannot make as ethical a choice as I would wish to and I do all that I can to avoid it and/or try to do better next time. I am open to scrutiny and am happy to discuss my dilemmas as and when

Hello Rhubarbginisnotasin

I have invited KidneyBeanbag to reply with a view to actually helping them, either publically or via private message if I can at all possible.

For the people who dont care - simples, dont read the posts. smile

Decent I was making more sense of your posts than Kidneys till you said 'simples'

Jeez, who'd be a landlord or a MIL at Mumsnet?