Consultation time is short for landlords wanting to comment on a new licensing scheme proposed...
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Looking after rental property is more complicated and more important than it was 20 years ago according to a leading lettings sector supplier.
Paul Wootton, director of landlords at the Nationwide Building Society - and responsible for The Landlord Works service - says two decades ago being a landlord was about maintaining an asset which was seen as being a stepping stone on the way of home ownership for the tenants.
“Now it’s about looking after homes and families - the sector’s changed” he says in a video interview with Lee Dahill of Angels Media.
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Wootton goes on to claim that despite that change in the sector, and the increasing complexity of compliance, landlords are arguably becoming increasingly keen to manage things themselves - especially more experienced landlords.
Wootton explains this is made simpler through PropTech platforms and tools today.
It’s a snappy seven minute video, exclusively for Landlord Today readers: you can see the video below.
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Having rented property out for over 25 years. For once this is a report I agree with. I am handy across all trades to a high standard. I know my limitations and get the professional people in when necessary. Also I have never used an agent.
Some disparaging remarks here and i appreciate you can only speak as you find.
As a proprietor owned agent and a landlord for over 30 years working in Surrey I would disagree. Personally speaking, I would never entertain a tenant for one of my landlords that I would not rent one of my own property to. I have a personal relationship with many, am available 24/7, on the front foot with all new legislation, compliance, and deal with problem tenants face to face - 7pm on a Sunday night if needs be!
You will not get this level of diligence and service with a large centralised business.
I would politely suggest we do not denigrate all agents. As landlords, you know what that feeling is like..... it's not fair and it's not right.
Completely agree. Nothing wrong with managing your own if you know what you’re doing and have the time and skills. But property is a side hustle for me at the moment. I don’t have the time or experience to do all the jobs a letting agent does.
Both my agents are small Independents that offer a great service to landlord and tenant alike. I’m often away as well, so when a radiator leaks or a minor repair is needed, it’s repaired that day for a reasonable price with no hassle at all to me.
My agents are also an asset when I come to buy another property as their knowledge of the area and what works well or doesn’t is second to none.
I suspect, when I retire, I will still use agents as i plan to start looking at other areas of property investment which would be a better use of my time.
John Thompson I totally agree anyone can find a tenant but it is about finding the right tenant and as you say if you would not rent your own property to them you won't put them in any other.
If only all agents were like Mr. Thompson. I am an excellent landlord with properties close by and have good relationships with my tenants. I care for them and in 2 cases am providing 'forever' homes as they will never be in a position to buy. I would never expect them to live in a property I wouldn't be prepared to live in myself.
My experience of using agents has not been positive.
I used an agent once a few years ago and hopefully won't need to repeat the experience any time soon. I don't know what the agent had said to the tenants but they were terrified to phone us when anything needed doing.
I experienced a useless agent when I first started 30 yrs ago, so I got rid and went alone for a time, today I self manage 4, the rest are all managed by a good local independent agent, used them for the past 20 yrs now and haven't had a bad tenant from them in all that time
I use agents as I like to keep a step away from my tenants. It has worked well for me so I would say pick your agent carefully - as with LLs or tenants, there are good ones & bad ones.
Using an agent does not mean ignore your property but it does mean I don't have to be involved on a say to day basis, which I like.
As a landlord and agent running a small team, we care - we treat our landlords property as if that property were our own, we are available 24/7 for both tenants and landlords - We treat every landlord as an individual and provide a bespoke service tailored to what each person needs and wants. We want happy tenants and happy landlords.
We also don't charge our contractors to receive work and don't add charges onto landlords, a landlords pays exactly what the contractor charges!
The problem is that landlords go to corporates because they are seen as "safe", landlords often don't respect qualifications and want the cheapest service, (we are actually cheaper than the other local agents around us and provide a better service) but often the cheaper agents "add in charges" and suddenly a landlord is tied in and they are expensive.
Bad agents also tie in landlords - if a landlord is unhappy with the service, the agent refuses to let them go!
For all the landlords that complain about agents don't tar us all with the same brush- some of us are qualified (RICS & ARLA), some of us have absolute integrity but getting a landlord to leave a "bad" agent is hard as many particularly "accidental" and smaller landlords are apathetic about leaving. A good agent is actually an incredible asset for your property portfolio
I am an agent that has been in the industry for 17 years, and I understand that there are agents that give us a bad name. Please do not generalise and tarnish us all with the same brush, that is the same as saying all landlords are money grabbing kingpins, which we know is not true in the slightest.
A lot of agents are working to change the opinion and bring up confidence in our profession. Personally I have a close working relationship with my clients (landlords) and the tenants. You need to build trust with all parties, tenants could be future clients plus the better relationship you have with the tenant the less issues you will have during the Tenancy. We are in the people business and I personally do genuinely care
Whether you are an agent or a landlord, it all comes down to experience and understanding, interpreting & applying the legislation in practical scenarios when managing and problem solving. Its certainly not about finding tenants and hasn't been for a few years now. I work advising both in different capacities and that capability extends from one end of the spectrum to the other in both categories.
There are many excellent agents out there, at the same time very experienced landlords that simply don't need any help from one, but then at the other end, there are plenty of both who think they are experts and actually know very little, but that will be the same in any sector. As they say, "you don't know what you don't know". Depending on where the landlord is on that spectrum dictates the need and whether they can then find an agent that is further along that spectrum than they are.
Having worked through a large national franchise agent as a contractor working on let properties I can honestly say this agent was doing the landlord no favors at all.Attitude towards tenants was disgusting and at the end of my service to this agent my final bills were not paid although I know for certain the landlords were charged.I dont know if all agents are the same but can only comment on my own experience of them.Landlords beware!!
You are certainly correct where the large national agents are concerned, basically managed by con men (and women) I wouldn't have them manage any of my properties and far less do any work for them
I have two properties with two different agents, one a national franchise agent and one a small independent agent. Both have been excellent. Maybe I have been lucky, but they do all the hard work for me.
The essence is that like a lot of subcontractors, they try and make a good profit on tight margins, and they either work like stink or they use very sharp practice. If they have long term tenants, then it can be good, but most tenants move on. So lots of administration, the tenant fee ban will hurt them.
The amount of inexperienced landlords who drop fundamental clangers is unbelievable.. many need agents. Of course some landlords don’t , but it’s not black and white
I used connels in Bournemouth for a Tennant find and rent collect service, they collected no rent and it turned out that the Tennant had convictions for drugs and violence, had been to prison and was on the sex offenders register!
I have had my share of bad experiences with Agents but not knocking all. I have one property with one Agent only for last year because of all the red tape making it impossible to manage anymore it’s taken me over 40 years to achieve this status congrats, so now I won’t fit & proper anymore.
In the past I have had Agent hang on to my rent for 7 months when I visited the Tenants they had transfer proof they had paid, they thought I was hooked like them but soon found out otherwise, I did get it back after a battle. I had Agent take me to Court over renewal fee the issue was when I visited the property I do recognise any of the occupants and no one on the Contract no long lived there, so in essence I had no Contract, they lost but I still had a problem to sort.
Another one they went Bankrupt owing me several months rent as well as other LL’s and Tenants alike.
Another one disappeared with Tenants Deposit & Rent for a house belong to me that they didn’t have t rent, when they arrived at the property to move in, my existing Tenants rang me to know what was going on. They went back to Agents Office opposite Ealing Broadway Station which they found permanently closed, it made headlines on local rag.
The financial point about using a Agent in London when our Rents are below market rate, it cannot stand the extra 9% cost plus the huge 20% VAT on the Bill, given that we are already hit for Thousands Regulatory and Licensing Schemes requirements.
Agents are only good for sourcing a tenant (Lettings only).
Anything after that, then you're looking for trouble!
An agent will fully manage your property for you, and give you the sales pitch that if the tenant's stop paying, they will collect the rent and evict the tenants.
In reality, when this does happen, they'll only tell you to issue a section 21 yourself.
You're better off getting compensation from your Landlord's insurance, for damages, loss of rent and court costs, than to pin your hopes on an estate agent.
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Whether in England or France, i've had bad experiences with dishonest agents. I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole!
An agent is never going to care about your asset and business in the same way as you do.
Having rented property out for over 25 years. For once this is a report I agree with. I am handy across all trades to a high standard. I know my limitations and get the professional people in when necessary. Also I have never used an agent.
Some disparaging remarks here and i appreciate you can only speak as you find.
As a proprietor owned agent and a landlord for over 30 years working in Surrey I would disagree. Personally speaking, I would never entertain a tenant for one of my landlords that I would not rent one of my own property to. I have a personal relationship with many, am available 24/7, on the front foot with all new legislation, compliance, and deal with problem tenants face to face - 7pm on a Sunday night if needs be!
You will not get this level of diligence and service with a large centralised business.
I would politely suggest we do not denigrate all agents. As landlords, you know what that feeling is like..... it's not fair and it's not right.
Completely agree. Nothing wrong with managing your own if you know what you’re doing and have the time and skills. But property is a side hustle for me at the moment. I don’t have the time or experience to do all the jobs a letting agent does.
Both my agents are small Independents that offer a great service to landlord and tenant alike. I’m often away as well, so when a radiator leaks or a minor repair is needed, it’s repaired that day for a reasonable price with no hassle at all to me.
My agents are also an asset when I come to buy another property as their knowledge of the area and what works well or doesn’t is second to none.
I suspect, when I retire, I will still use agents as i plan to start looking at other areas of property investment which would be a better use of my time.
Well said
John Thompson I totally agree anyone can find a tenant but it is about finding the right tenant and as you say if you would not rent your own property to them you won't put them in any other.
If only all agents were like Mr. Thompson. I am an excellent landlord with properties close by and have good relationships with my tenants. I care for them and in 2 cases am providing 'forever' homes as they will never be in a position to buy. I would never expect them to live in a property I wouldn't be prepared to live in myself.
My experience of using agents has not been positive.
I used an agent once a few years ago and hopefully won't need to repeat the experience any time soon. I don't know what the agent had said to the tenants but they were terrified to phone us when anything needed doing.
I experienced a useless agent when I first started 30 yrs ago, so I got rid and went alone for a time, today I self manage 4, the rest are all managed by a good local independent agent, used them for the past 20 yrs now and haven't had a bad tenant from them in all that time
I use agents as I like to keep a step away from my tenants. It has worked well for me so I would say pick your agent carefully - as with LLs or tenants, there are good ones & bad ones.
Using an agent does not mean ignore your property but it does mean I don't have to be involved on a say to day basis, which I like.
As a landlord and agent running a small team, we care - we treat our landlords property as if that property were our own, we are available 24/7 for both tenants and landlords - We treat every landlord as an individual and provide a bespoke service tailored to what each person needs and wants. We want happy tenants and happy landlords.
We also don't charge our contractors to receive work and don't add charges onto landlords, a landlords pays exactly what the contractor charges!
The problem is that landlords go to corporates because they are seen as "safe", landlords often don't respect qualifications and want the cheapest service, (we are actually cheaper than the other local agents around us and provide a better service) but often the cheaper agents "add in charges" and suddenly a landlord is tied in and they are expensive.
Bad agents also tie in landlords - if a landlord is unhappy with the service, the agent refuses to let them go!
For all the landlords that complain about agents don't tar us all with the same brush- some of us are qualified (RICS & ARLA), some of us have absolute integrity but getting a landlord to leave a "bad" agent is hard as many particularly "accidental" and smaller landlords are apathetic about leaving. A good agent is actually an incredible asset for your property portfolio
I am an agent that has been in the industry for 17 years, and I understand that there are agents that give us a bad name. Please do not generalise and tarnish us all with the same brush, that is the same as saying all landlords are money grabbing kingpins, which we know is not true in the slightest.
A lot of agents are working to change the opinion and bring up confidence in our profession. Personally I have a close working relationship with my clients (landlords) and the tenants. You need to build trust with all parties, tenants could be future clients plus the better relationship you have with the tenant the less issues you will have during the Tenancy. We are in the people business and I personally do genuinely care
Whether you are an agent or a landlord, it all comes down to experience and understanding, interpreting & applying the legislation in practical scenarios when managing and problem solving. Its certainly not about finding tenants and hasn't been for a few years now. I work advising both in different capacities and that capability extends from one end of the spectrum to the other in both categories.
There are many excellent agents out there, at the same time very experienced landlords that simply don't need any help from one, but then at the other end, there are plenty of both who think they are experts and actually know very little, but that will be the same in any sector. As they say, "you don't know what you don't know". Depending on where the landlord is on that spectrum dictates the need and whether they can then find an agent that is further along that spectrum than they are.
Having worked through a large national franchise agent as a contractor working on let properties I can honestly say this agent was doing the landlord no favors at all.Attitude towards tenants was disgusting and at the end of my service to this agent my final bills were not paid although I know for certain the landlords were charged.I dont know if all agents are the same but can only comment on my own experience of them.Landlords beware!!
You are certainly correct where the large national agents are concerned, basically managed by con men (and women) I wouldn't have them manage any of my properties and far less do any work for them
I have two properties with two different agents, one a national franchise agent and one a small independent agent. Both have been excellent. Maybe I have been lucky, but they do all the hard work for me.
The essence is that like a lot of subcontractors, they try and make a good profit on tight margins, and they either work like stink or they use very sharp practice. If they have long term tenants, then it can be good, but most tenants move on. So lots of administration, the tenant fee ban will hurt them.
The amount of inexperienced landlords who drop fundamental clangers is unbelievable.. many need agents. Of course some landlords don’t , but it’s not black and white
I used connels in Bournemouth for a Tennant find and rent collect service, they collected no rent and it turned out that the Tennant had convictions for drugs and violence, had been to prison and was on the sex offenders register!
Avoid the big national agents at all costs, their letting departments are run by wet behind the ears boys and girls
I have had my share of bad experiences with Agents but not knocking all. I have one property with one Agent only for last year because of all the red tape making it impossible to manage anymore it’s taken me over 40 years to achieve this status congrats, so now I won’t fit & proper anymore.
In the past I have had Agent hang on to my rent for 7 months when I visited the Tenants they had transfer proof they had paid, they thought I was hooked like them but soon found out otherwise, I did get it back after a battle. I had Agent take me to Court over renewal fee the issue was when I visited the property I do recognise any of the occupants and no one on the Contract no long lived there, so in essence I had no Contract, they lost but I still had a problem to sort.
Another one they went Bankrupt owing me several months rent as well as other LL’s and Tenants alike.
Another one disappeared with Tenants Deposit & Rent for a house belong to me that they didn’t have t rent, when they arrived at the property to move in, my existing Tenants rang me to know what was going on. They went back to Agents Office opposite Ealing Broadway Station which they found permanently closed, it made headlines on local rag.
The financial point about using a Agent in London when our Rents are below market rate, it cannot stand the extra 9% cost plus the huge 20% VAT on the Bill, given that we are already hit for Thousands Regulatory and Licensing Schemes requirements.
Sorry about a couple of wrong spellings this HE phone does this, too small I don’t have to time for proof read.
Very true, Mr Foley.
Agents are only good for sourcing a tenant (Lettings only).
Anything after that, then you're looking for trouble!
An agent will fully manage your property for you, and give you the sales pitch that if the tenant's stop paying, they will collect the rent and evict the tenants.
In reality, when this does happen, they'll only tell you to issue a section 21 yourself.
You're better off getting compensation from your Landlord's insurance, for damages, loss of rent and court costs, than to pin your hopes on an estate agent.
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