A former lettings agent who has become a sharp critic of landlords has made another attack - this time suggesting that landlords may be slow at fixing safety-related repairs, and may evict tenants who complain about this issue.
Very Wise Student founder Ajay Jagota - who until recently ran a north of England lettings agency - has now issued a statement saying that many renters fear ‘revenge evictions’ should they report a safety risk. And he says one in eight renter generally say they will not bother to report a fire-safety issue because they believe their landlord would be unlikely to fix it.
Jagota - who has made multiple accusations about landlord standards in recent months - now says: “This is just the latest example of unscrupulous and uncaring landlords and letting agents taking a casual approach to renter safety – and renters not having the knowledge or resources to uphold their rights.
“Fire safety is quite obviously a non-negotiable, and one of Very Wise’s many free services for students is a free student accommodation safety check – helping student renters protect their rights, but more importantly keeping them safe.
“It’s not unsurprising too to hear that so many renters aren’t even bothering to report maintenance issues to their landlords and letting agents as they assuming nothing will be done. But most repairs are not optional – and if they can’t get then carried out alone, we’re here to help”.
Very Wise is actually an offshoot of a tenancy compliance service - which has the similar name Veriwise. This controversially promotes the idea of tenants threatening legal action against landlords or agents who allegedly fail to abide by legislation surrounding the private rental sector.
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What a charming chap
I imagine we all want tenants to appropriately report repairs or maintenance issues. Preferably with some relevant photos showing exactly what the problem is. An indication of urgency and if they want to be there while the repair is carried out or want us to deal with it while they're at work is also useful.
It's frustrating when we pay for plumbing and drainage policies and tenants don't bother either using the policy or telling us stuff needs doing. It's far easier to pop round and lubricate stiff window hinges than to replace them when they've been bent, etc. Same goes for locks and other hinges. Tightening screws is sometimes necessary on kitchen cabinets. Some tenants have sufficient DIY capability to do these things themselves and just regard it as a basic life skill. Others have zero DIY skills and have the attitude that if it's anything to do with the house it's nothing to do with them.
For so many things a timely repair is much more cost effective than a costly replacement. However, we're not clairvoyant - we actually need our tenants to communicate when something needs attention.
Last Tuesday a tenant reported to me he was having problems locking and unlocking his front door , 10 am Wednesday I was there replacing the lock, I think we, the private landlords, are being tared with the same brush as the social landlords, councils and housing associations , who are well known for not carrying out gas and electrical inspections, Norwich City Council being a prime example here (green / labour controlled )
He is just looking for free advertising and is like Shelter etc. making wild generalisations to grab the headlines.
In practice most PRS Landlords actually look after their properties and the Tenants as evidenced by the high satisfaction ratings in surveys.
The real problems with getting repairs done are from the social sector as seen in Tenant surveys and the sad case this week in Rochdale.
The Government would do better to tighten up on Council and Social Landlords property standards and also make them comply with Licensing requirements the same as the PRS because Tenants have more problems on standards and repairs there than in the PRS. In addition, the social properties and Tenants can also be the main cause of problems resulting in an area being designated for Licensing!
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