Landlord? Giving up ,had enough.

Sad to hear...
But not all tenants are like that!
Good luck with it all.
Regards,
Cando

 

Agree with Cando but this is not uncommon, mate of mine had all architrave, skirtings and hardwood herringbone floors ripped out and burnt by the tenant to keep warm.

 

I wish you well....to be honest you won't regret it.

 

Apart from the bad tenants, the biggest problem for the landlord is the raft of laws the govt bought in since 2017. Although implemented in good faith with the intention of providing better housing to all as well driving out bad landlords ( probably equal in numbers to bad tenants), it seems to had the opposite effect by driving up rent caused by shortage of properties coming on the market. But even this increase does not always give returns in some areas of the UK causing further issues.

I spent some time working in a house that was being renovated after the owner gave up trying to bring the HMO up to current standards required by law and put it up for sale. The place was littered with badly done improvements, none of which would have passed to get a HMO licence.

The new owner, was not put off by the state of the house but there was almost nothing salvageable, except the boiler that was 18month old and in good nick.

 

Could you not pay 9-11% a month to a letting agent via a contract that stipulates they or their insurance takes care of rent arrears, damages, etc? Not all tenants are like that.

 

Letting agents are dogs with no teeth due to as you say the 'laws' .

 

Many letting agents are just downright lazy, only interested in commission and useless when it comes to dealing with maintenance & management issues.

 

People in the street behind me also became "amateur" landlords and had a horrendous experience.

Met a mother at the school gates (immediate red flag!) who was looking for somewhere to rent with her two kids and husband, husband working. The owners of the property had very good and well paid jobs with Google (fortunately) and were relocating to Europe for a time.

Immediately the regulations were changed over Covid, suspending evictions, the tenants stopped paying rent and never started again despite the husband's job never altering, i.e. no furlough or reduction in wages. He was a delivery driver, I think for Amazon, which should again have been a red flag as this is not a cheap area for renting.

They finally got them out about 3 months ago with an estimated loss of around £20,000 in rent and damages and there is absolutely nothing they can do about it. CCJ is pointless as the family are, not to put too fine a point of it, penniless scum and have no shame in lying and ripping anyone off they come into contact with. Apparently they were allocated a council house after finally leaving, they now have 5 children.

Yes, the "landlords" didn't do their due diligence and have learnt a very expensive lesson. It is now on the market again but with home owner guarantor for the rent, insurance for non payment of rent and bank statement proof of earnings. I am hearing, anecdotally, of many landlords who are selling up as the regulations now are such that if someone just stops paying rent it can easily take over a year to get them out and thousands in bailiffs and court fees, let alone lost rent.

It is not surprising that rents are soaring across the country as many landlords are just not willing to take the risk on those on benefits or low paid jobs and are also selling up having been badly burnt over the last few years.

 

Sadly our politicians bring in laws without any consideration to cause and effects. As we speak another slew of rental laws would have been drawn up but for the fact we have a government in absentia. You need not look further than this forum to see the number of certificates required plus strict adherence to rules and regulation.

IMHO, badly drafted laws only encourage bad landlords and discourage good ones. The ever rising rentals and scarcity of accommodation speaks volumes.

 

Are you actually on Arran? Would the house work as a holiday let?

 

Good question ! I hear many landlords fed up with the excessive bureaucracy are turning to Airbnb or other such venues instead of rental as returns are higher. Although you can still get bad tenants who can thrash your place in a single weekend, they tend to target larger properties which can house a large party. But here too many authorities are clamping down which means more bad landlords

 

We got out a couple of years back, to be fair we had a number of good tenants, but they each only stayed a year.
Two bought houses (one opposite the one they rented from us) one left to look after her father and the other couple moved on.
We were scrupulous about the condition for letting so each time spent time and money getting it back to pristine.
Then there is the void period and all the agents fees to re-let.
Just not worth the hassle. Throw into the mix all the extra "rights" they have now where it will be even harder to get rid of a bad one I am glad to be well out of it.
Rather than improve conditions for tenants the new rules are simply causing the rental market to shrink.

 

In the months ahead it could get even more difficult for landlords.
If people are literally skint then what will their priorities be.
Energy.
Food.
Rent.
Can see people prioritising food and warmth over the rent payment.

 

This - in particular the national chains.

I originally rented my house out with Temples. Then I visited the property and found it in a right state, with items stolen, and the checkout report was just a whitewash. I told them they were sacked, and they handed over their entire file on the property including the check-in reports which I'd never seen - found out a few jobs I'd paid to have done, weren't actually done as noted by the students who moved in after the work was supposed to have been completed.

New agency were brilliant for years, until they were taken over by another national chain. Now my property manager who is from the original business is still excellent, but otherwise it's a bit of a joke. Twice I've had kids on the other end of the phone giving me faulty legal advice.

I think for anyone looking for an agency - use a local business and one that markets properties similar to yours.