Let’s face it – landlords have a bad reputation. While that reputation is largely undeserved, the landlord bashing articles often featured in the mainstream media would have the general public believe that more often than not, it is not without warrant. 

From the minority of rogue landlords who provide substandard living conditions to those that fail to acquire the appropriate license to rent out property in the local area, there are plenty of unfavourable stories, which contribute to the public perception that all landlords are “greedy”, “dishonest” and “slimy”, among other unflattering descriptions, as illustrated by a new YouGov survey. 

The research to determine exactly what The British public think of landlords show that the most popular words associated with landlords were “greedy”, “difficult”, “wealthy”, “misleading” and “dishonest”.

Following the negative results, TheHouseShop.com, which commissioned the study, has created a free, downloadable guide for landlords, in order to help them forge better relationships with their tenants and prevent their reputations declining any further.

Nick Marr, co-founder of TheHouseShop.com, said: “Landlords and investors have benefitted from substantial yields and consistent demand as a result of the UK’s housing shortage, but they now risk alienating their cash-strapped tenants who have had no choice but to hand over increasing proportions of their income in monthly rent payments.”

“It is this image of wealthy private investors and struggling tenants that has contributed heavily to the negative reputation for UK landlords.

“However, this approach risks tarring all landlords with the same brush and doesn’t fairly represent the thousands of reliable, responsible and professional landlords who provide high quality and affordable homes to millions of people throughout the UK.

“My main piece of advice for landlords would be this: Tenants expect to be treated as paying customers and not as a nuisance or burden – and if you can keep this in mind, you will undoubtedly enjoy healthier and happier relationships with your renters.”