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Agent blasts “dodgy landlords” for sabotaging energy efficiency goals

A lettings agent claims progress on climate change and energy efficiency is likely to be undermined by what he calls “dodgy landlords.”

Ajay Jagota, who runs the KIS agency in Tyne & Wear and who also operates a claims management service called Veriwise, believes some landlord’s unwillingness to make basic repairs to their properties suggests they are highly unlikely to invest in energy efficiency measures.

Jagota says government figures show that 3.2m privately rented properties in England and Wales currently have an EPC rating of D or below, with 18 per cent of privately rented households living in fuel poverty – this compares with just eight per cent of owner occupied homes.

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He says: “Every day we’re contacted by renters who can’t afford to turn the heating on, whose heating doesn’t work in the first place, or who can’t keep their homes warm because all the heat goes straight out of a broken window.

“But we’re expecting the landlords who won’t fix broken windows and who are happy for their tenants to sit day in day out in damp and draughty homes to turn around and invest in heat pumps and hydrogen boilers – it’s not so much unrealistic as fantastical.”

Jagota says that he regularly hears of cases of landlord neglect and disrepair. 

 

 

“In every corner of the country there are renters asking questions like ‘’ and ‘how long can my landlord leave me without heating?’ or ‘does my landlord have to fix a broken front door?’

“Renting regulations even make it unlawful to let a property with an EPC rating below E – but national figures show that there are 89,000 such rented properties. Who is enforcing those regulations?”

For several years Jagota ran an alternative deposit service called Dlighted.

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  • George Dawes

    89 ,000 ?

    Just shows that people don't care about this epc garbage , they just want a roof over their heads

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    They HAVE to have a roof over their head. They might not care about their EPC, but I can guarnatee you that once the basic necessity of a roof over their head is taken care of, they care very much that the property attached to that roof is warm, undraughty and economically viable to heat. Despite the Government's absurd and impossible targets, there is a lot of truth in the article when it states that many landlords don't give a toss about maintaining their properties, because it's true.

     
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    Max it's very true that council and housing assocs don't give a toss about maintaining their rental properties, we have seen the proof of that in the ongoing reports on ITN but these days most private landlords do maintain their properties to a good standard.

     
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    @Andrew Townshend.

    Total nonsense. I have extensive first hand experience of dealing with councils, housing associations, non profits and hundreds of private landlords over the past 20 years. The minimum homes standard was introduced in the early 2000's. Every single social housing property was refurbed between 2001 and 2017, to a very good standard, and they have been generally well maintained since.

    The opposite is true in the private sector.

    Forward thinking, professional landlords are few and far between. The majority of private landlords barely know what their obligations are, or what even constitutes good maintenance.

    Ongoing reports on ITN?? 😅Do you still think Santa brings your presents at Christmas?? You do know that the media are in the business of selling advertising don't you? Please don't tell me you thought it was actually about accurately reporting the news.

     
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    No Max you are the one talking total nonsense here

     
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    Max, those reports are on camera, the camera never lies , unlike you I suspect.

     
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    Also Max you mention '' none profit making'' you are aware of the £300k - £400k paid to CEOs of these none profit making housing assocs aren't you ? that doesn't sound like none profit making to me.

     
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    Andrew

    Your time is far too valuable to waste on replying to this guy.

    Surely you could spend the time better in breaking a few windows or making the roof or gas boiler leak in some of your properties?

    That's obviously how we spend our time as tenants are blameless!

     
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    @ Andrew townshend

    I have decades of first hand experience. You watch ITN and think you're informed because 'the camera never lies' 😅

    And WTF you think CEO wages have to do with anything I've got no idea.

    I've spent the past 21 years working in rental properties across both sectors.

    THOUSANDS of them.... and I'm TELLING you. From first hand experience....

    Social housing is in far better condition, and far better maintained than the PRS. Infinitely better in fact, there's no comparison.

     
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    @ Robert Brown

    I'm a landlord myself mate, I just wish you jokers would stop giving those of us who know what we're doing a bad name. What a tenant does to your property is irrelvant to the argument. Landlords, in general, are clueless when it comes to maintenance. Look at the farce of EICR's. Most Landords (and agents) don't even know what they are, and never went near them until they became mandatory, even though they had a duty of care all along (you knew that right?)

    This week alone I've dealt with landlords unaware of the Electrical Safety in the Private Rented Sector Regulations (18 months later), with non compliant wiring, non compliant fire doors, non compliant fire alarms, none registered deposits... all different cases, and all in one week. And this is standard.

    Then landlords wonder why they come under attack from the Government. Clowns.

     
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    George, I am listening to Max Boyne. We all should.

     
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    Well Max you can tell me all you like, I don't believe a word of it.

     
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    Well Andrew, I don't particularly care. The very culture of the public sector is compliance and bureaucracy, and they don't care how much tax payers money they have to spend, how many tender frameworks they write, how many sub contractors they need, or how many people they have to employ to get it. I'm no fan by any stretch of the imagination, but the very idea that these office wallers and bureaucrats maintain their properties to a lower standard than private landlords who have to spend their own money, many of whom are completely ignorant to what even constitues compliance or maintenance is absolutely laughable.

    The attitude of the average landlord is pretty much summed up by the response to me in these comments. Either mockery or disdain, yet not one person with a single piece of anything meaningful to dispute anything I've said.

    As I've already said.. carry on down that road and see what happens. The Government, banks and corporate world are coming after the PRS and they are going to use compliance as their guns and council housing officers as their men with fingers on triggers. They will fine and tax every numpty out of the market.

     
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    I don't much care either Max, I'm less than 2 years to 70 and have 16 freehold investment properties with no borrowings, if the worst happened I would sell 1 a year that would see me out in comfort, I would add that you are the one guilty of dishing out the mockery on here to others, anyway mate lets just agree to disagree shall we

     
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    Max

    Market forces dictate that most prs properties are much more desirable than social housing, more expensive to buy and maintain, and in return able to command higher rents from more desirable tenants.

    Only those properties which decent tenants wouldn't touch with a barge pole are not maintained to a higher standard than social housing and those landlords get the tenants they deserve.

    It is you who is talking nonsense, no doubt blinded by a hatred of the higher quality prs and its decent landlords and tenants alike.

    Of course, you may be perfectly honest and genuine, which would suggest your experience of the prs is limited to dealing with those idiot rogue landlords who do not realise that the highest profits are generated from the best maintained properties.

    I suspect astute reputable landlords who recognise that reality are also astute enough not to deal with you or let you anywhere near their high quality high value properties.

    Your skewed impression of the relative quality of social housing and prs properties would support this hypothesis!

     
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    Oh Christ not this twit Jagota again

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    And now he's got a pal!

    See above!

     
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    This guys full of s***

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    The interesting point though is that the Govt is planning to push law abiding LLs to EPC C whilst failing to enforce the EPC E already in existence.

    The result can only be a 2 tier PRS - expensive, compliant properties & cheap non compliant ones. Let's face it, if you don't comply with EPC E you probably don't have a as safety, EICR or smoke / CO detectors, so these properties are possibly dangerous as well as non compliant but tenants will be forced to rent them due to a lack of decent, affordable properties.

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    Where did this guy learn his marketing skills?

    Insulting and alienating your potential customer base is NOT the way to build a successful business!

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    The types of landlords he's insulting are ones who usually (non compliantly) self manage anyway. They aren't his target market even if they were in the market for an agent. Low profit, high hassle.

    By consistently and constantly publicly railing against rogue landlords he's endearing himself to professional landlords.

     
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    He obiously believes all publicity is good publicity.

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    Climate change has nothing to do with humans. It's 99%+ a natural process. UK emissions were down 51% during lockdown, world emissions about 25%. This had no effect on atmospheric co2.
    Source: gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/

  • George Dawes

    Max Boyne strikes me as a max troll.

    Does this place have an ignore function ?

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    👍😂😂😂 reminds me of Max Headroom in the 80s

     
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    No, just a proper landlord who doesn't think it's still 1996.

     
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    In the 1990's prs rents were largely stable due to a closer balance between demand and supply of prs properties.

    Landlords then we're largely content to make a small profit from a relatively low rent, with capital appreciation the higher incentive for property investment.

    Now after a further 20 years of anti prs sentiment ( not from prs tenants) and foolish legislation, the supply of prs properties no longer matches the demand and market forces now allow much more profitable rents compared to our costs.

    Decent tenants have to pick up the higher tab for the higher quality properties, thanks to the interference of the anti prs rabble rousers and vote chasing ignorant politicians.

    I have been a landlord throughout the last 30 years with annual gross rental receipts of over £250k and costs less than at any period before 2010, largely due to interest cost reductions from lower rates and lower loan to value ratios.

    I intend to keep doing what I have done well for over 30 years and planned ahead to put most of my portfolio into the names of my grown up children with the remainder going to my grandchildren eventually.

    I believe the experiences of the Irish Republic, Germany etc. will be seen in the UK and the "reforms" desired by the left wing rabble rousers will also be reversed here once their true costs to decent tenants become obvious.

     
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    No one actually knows how many properties are really in any EPC band. The EPC register only shows a report done on a specific day at some point in the last 10 years by an assessor who may or may not have been in any way competent. It is entirely possible that a different assessor would have come up with a score at least 10 points different.
    Three of my properties have had this situation.
    With no work being carried out between assessments one changed from F25 to G14. Another from D57 to E47 and another from E48 to D63. These discrepancies can only be because one or both assessor didn't do their job properly. Until there is consistency in the standard of assessment EPCs have very little credibility.

    While some landlords may be unwilling to make improvements other are more than happy to. Without consistency in the EPC scores or a full menu of improvements to choose from we're working completely blind. Also we are highly unlikely to pay for a new EPC until we absolutely have to so a great many properties showing as D or E will have already had sufficient improvements to put them at least one band higher.

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