A row has broken out between housing charity Shelter and the Residential Landlords Association (RLA).
Earlier this week Shelter and British Gas announced the findings of a joint study which they say shows that 200,000 people have faced eviction because they asked their landlord to fix a problem in their home. Shelter has launched a campaign against so-called revenge or “retaliatory” evictions.
But the RLA accused Shelter of running a “campaign against landlords” and called for it to end.
Shelter’s study claimed that revenge evictions were widespread across the country. It said many tenants were too scared of eviction to complain at all – 8% said they’d avoided asking their landlord to repair a problem or improve conditions in the last year in case they were evicted.
The study also claimed that bad conditions were widespread, with more than 40% of renters having problems with mould in the past year. 25% had lived with a leaking roof or windows, while 16% had electrical hazards in their home.
Shelter’s chief executive Campbell Robb said: “No-one should lose their home for asking their landlord to fix a problem, yet these shocking findings uncover the true scale of unfair evictions taking place across the country.
"We’re calling on people across the country to sign our petition and send the government a message that England’s nine million renters deserve better, now.”
But in response the RLA says Shelter has “ignored the inconvenient truths”. It says that based on Shelter’s data, which indicates there are 9 million tenants in the private rented sector in England, 200,000 is only a little over 2% of all tenants, meaning almost 98% have not faced the problems Shelter warns of.
The RLA also points out that these figures refer only to tenants “facing” eviction and not actual evictions.
Official figures published by the Ministry of Justice in February show that in 2013, the total for all tenants – in both public and private housing – having their homes repossessed by the courts amounted to 37,739 homes. This combined figure equates to only 0.5% of all rented homes in England. The RLA says Shelter admits to scaling up the figures from their research.
Shelter also fails to explain how many of the tenants were failing to pay their rent on time and how many of the “evictons” were as a result of tenancies coming to a close. In this instance, many landlords may have sought possession of their properties in order to embark on refurbishments. It is also noticeable that Shelter fails to indicate how many tenant evictions are as a result of anti-social behaviour.
RLA Chairman Alan Ward said: “Shelter is once again needlessly playing to people’s fears.Whilst the RLA accepts that there are landlords who should be rooted out of the sector, the fact that almost 98% of tenants have not faced the problems should be a sober reminder to Shelter that the majority of tenants face no problems whatsoever with their landlord.
“The best response to the problems that Shelter identifies is to encourage more good landlords into the sector in order to boost the supply of homes to rent and to provide tenants with genuine choices over where they live. Shelter’s continued vilification of landlords will serve only to put the good landlords off further investment in the sector and push tenants into the hands of those operating under the radar.”
Comments
In my experience there are far more poor tenants than poor landlords. The law is also biased against landlords. For example if you fail to protect a deposit there is an automatic penalty, but where is the law when it comes to tracing tenants who have left with rent arrears and the property damaged?
Reading the previous comments, what I don't understand is why tenants get away / are allowed to get away with 'trashing' accommodation? This is criminal damage and they should be up in court for it. Proof? Signed, witnessed and dated photos of the property as it was let is a good start....
The rogue landlord and equally the rogue tenant seems to exist all around the world! My family's and my own experiences over the years bear ample witness to this simple truth.
Whilst Shelter UK is acting solely in the interests of the homeless it appears not to recognize that a significant number of people expect a roof to be provided for them at little or no cost which they can if they wish mistreat and/or behave in antisocial ways to their neighbours.
Shelter should recognize this behavior for what it is and adopt a more reasonable rather than confrontational stance with landlords, most of whom want the best for their tenants. A contented tenant is a tenant that stays and Shelter should bear that in mind.
Shelter is full of otherwise unemployable spiteful morons who, under the leadership are intent on continuing the hate campaign the press, councils and politicians seek to keep at the top of their agendas to distract us from their pointlessness. In order to maintain a need for their services,
Hate is their currency to justify the wasted money they receive to survive as a charity against the enemy, us!
I have never seen or heard any organisation expose the feckless, hateful and wilful anti landlord behaviours tenants engage in and often under the coaching of shelter and local authorities, encouraging tenants to steal from us for as long as possible and how to stay in our properties rent free for months. A shameful and hideous communist agenda against free market responsible people.
One tenant of ours was told to wait until the bailiffs came before she moved out, that way she would then be classed as homeless. She did move out though before it went that far but she stole furniture & just emptied bags of rubbish in various rooms before she left.
Last tenant decided not to tell me about back mould on the walls that was due to them not ventilating the windows or using the extractor fans in the kitchen & bathroom. Heavy smoking in the rooms & conservatory that left everything yellow. The grass in the back garden disappeared because they let their dog out there without supervision, decking was ruined.
Both were on benefits, so this time decided no one on benefits, non-smokers & no pets.
As a private landlord who keeps her properties in an excellent state of repair comments such as those made by Shelter and the attitude of the majority of councils only confirm what I already knew. Do not rent to benefits claimants. At all. Ever.
The recent change in process which now sees housing benefit going to the tenant instead of directly to the landlord was bad enough. On top of this, councils are advising tenants to fight non-payment evictions for as long as possible. While the tenants continue to withhold the rent.
I find it ironic that Shelter find it acceptable to vilify landlords for not keeping up with maintenance. Did they poll landlords to determine why repairs are slow in coming? Do they think the recent rise in rental defaults may have anything to do with it or is that completely unrelated? What do they think pays for repairs?
It's time both the government and charities such as Shelter woke up to the fact that the PRS is a business and not a charity. Otherwise, a lot of small private landlords will look to moving their investments elsewhere.
Well done RLA, and the people commenting above. The RLA and NLA needs to carry on in this vein with correct data. Is there any way to inform/educate Shelter to the reality of renting to people who may or may not behave in a responsible manner, perhaps they could shadow a typical portfolio for a year, and the costs come out of their personal pockets.
Shelter are the worst thing that ever happened to the homeless. They have destroyed probably 90% of chances homeless people have of finding a home in the PRS.
Shelter preach that 99.9% of Landlords are rouges and extortionists.
The fact is that 2% of Landlords probably are and want getting rid of. I would say the same applies to Letting Agents approx 2%. I would also say that 95% of tenants are excellent. Another 2 % OK and 3% rubbish.
My advice to any private Landlord is to put on your application form the question: Have you had anything to do with Shelter ? - If the answer is yes - The application has failed. It will save you many hours of grief and costs.
It's now 3 years later and I am still paying off the repair costs from a Shelter tenant, that's as well as the Court costs - appeals - appeals - appeals - loss of rent etc.
this is a hateful, bigoted organisation with a hidden agenda, fairness and a balanced view do not come near them, we need to make it more known, and dry up their funding.
As a landlord I find Shelter’s approach yet again irresponsible, for a charity that is meant to help the homeless, they are not doing much to encourage an harmonious relationship between us.
I look after my properties and tenants incredibly well and I for one would like to see some positive feedback on the landlords rather than this continuous spiteful approach, let’s not forget tenants are no angels.
Having previously taken someone who was in a desperate situation and nearly homeless - she wrecked my flat to the point that when she moved out one year later I had to refurbish the flat again, including urine stained carpets.
Shelter works with us rather than against us