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Responsible Landlord
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4818  Profile Views

About Me

BTL landlord with over 30 years experience

my expertise in the industry

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Responsible 's Recent Activity

Responsible Landlord
Possibly if the “younger generation” would stop buying iPhone 12’s, 50” TV’s, cocktails at £8 pounds and less “stuff”, saved for a couple of years and stayed in, they would be able to buy their own home. Believe it or not that’s how many landlords started! I used to own a successful letting agency and have been involved for over 40 years and have seen how money was being spent each month whilst reference checking applicants. Im sorry I’m not believing any of this. Governments need to stop using LL’s as their scapegoat for their inability to build new rented homes. As far as support from “our official body” where the hell ae you. Start supporting us and stop cosying up to the decision makers, you represent US!

From: Responsible Landlord 05 January 2022 10:30 AM

Responsible Landlord
Couldn’t agree more, these guys are too hard to chase, we’re the easy targets.,

From: Responsible Landlord 31 December 2021 09:42 AM

Responsible Landlord
Great post Ross, i have never been a great supporter of LAS and SAL as i feel they are too close to the Scottish Government and Shelter. Not really representing their clients. Its time we have a quality organisation who actually "challenged" the SG on many of their current and proposed plans for the PRS

From: Responsible Landlord 26 December 2021 16:16 PM

Responsible Landlord
Any legal aid for landlords? Mmmmm..

From: Responsible Landlord 29 November 2021 08:57 AM

Responsible Landlord
Whose prosecuting the Councils!!

From: Responsible Landlord 12 November 2021 08:59 AM

Responsible Landlord
ENGLISH LANDLORDS - morning all. Genuine question. I am based in Scotland we have LRS (Landlord Registration Scotland) a register of all private landlords you must legally be listed on. Whilst we run a tight ship and have all of ours listed, there are many LL who either don’t bother or don’t care to register. The policing is very poor and the penalties are a slapped wrist at worst. Can any of you pease advise if you have this in place or are we being over regulated as usual by this Scot Gov! PS … plus we pay 4% stamp duty on second homes.

From: Responsible Landlord 26 October 2021 09:15 AM

Responsible Landlord
In Scotland we have to pay 4% of the purchase price Land and Property tax when we buy, surely this is what the Greens should be grabbing, not a second bite at the cherry.

From: Responsible Landlord 25 October 2021 10:36 AM

Responsible Landlord
What about chasing the real culprits who are avoiding paying a massive amount of tax. The Amazons etc? No you won’t because it’s too hard for you and middle Britain is an easy target. I’ve worked like an African elephant for 50 years to try and get on in life, study Independant and honest and these champagne socialists want to come along and grab it! Get out there and get a real job, it’s hard, very hard!

From: Responsible Landlord 25 October 2021 09:55 AM

Responsible Landlord
Me too

From: Responsible Landlord 25 October 2021 09:50 AM

Responsible Landlord
Everything JM says is ridiculous. Extreme lefty!

From: Responsible Landlord 18 October 2021 10:24 AM

Responsible Landlord
My understanding is it’s ALL homes in Scotland from Feb 22? “… Every home in Scotland must have interlinked fire alarms by February 2022. Being interlinked means if one alarm goes off, they all go off. You may not always hear the alarm closest to the fire, especially if you're somewhere else in the house. An interlinked system will alert you immediately.”

From: Responsible Landlord 07 October 2021 09:01 AM

Responsible Landlord
Having been involved with renting property for almost 30 years I have shouted till I’m blue in the face that the “landlord bodies” do little or nothing to really support their client base.,Many organisations are far too close to Government and Shelfer for example imho. They talk about tenant injustice whilst taking away many landlords fair rights and any benefit to running a rental portfolio.

From: Responsible Landlord 05 October 2021 09:40 AM

Responsible Landlord
100% right George. Not sure where your based but Scotland is not a nice place to live at the moment. Once I was proud to say I was Scottish … but sadly no longer!

From: Responsible Landlord 01 September 2021 09:42 AM

Responsible Landlord
What if the landlord has an unplanned and unavoidable need to sell..does he get compensation. Maybe an idea would be for tenants to be able to take out some form of insurance policy for this scenario, or would that not hurt the landlords enough? Thoughts?

From: Responsible Landlord 31 August 2021 08:08 AM

Responsible Landlord
Mad as in furious Robert. The majority are certainly that as you say. These champagne socialists at Holyrood with their sheer incompetence are a massive liability to the future of our once great nation.

From: Responsible Landlord 25 August 2021 09:43 AM

Responsible Landlord
Your starting to get legislation down there that we’ve had for a few years Theodor. Keep a look out. PS .. not all Scots are mad, only the ones in the Scottish Government!

From: Responsible Landlord 24 August 2021 20:11 PM

Responsible Landlord
Time to sell then.

From: Responsible Landlord 23 August 2021 18:36 PM

Responsible Landlord
Certainly won’t be Scotland then Iain.

From: Responsible Landlord 23 August 2021 15:12 PM

Responsible Landlord
…and less oil revenue now the ScotGov have shut part of that down. As they say “The problem with socialism is, you eventually run out of someone else’s money”!

From: Responsible Landlord 23 August 2021 10:45 AM

Responsible Landlord
Great post Steve, couldn’t agree more. At one point I had 4 jobs at once, just trying to get on in life.. you just wonder why? It’s not a one off, Sturgeon has lots of policies that negatively impact on the majority. Not a nice place to be at the moment.

From: Responsible Landlord 23 August 2021 10:38 AM

Responsible Landlord
Sadly the controllers in Scotland have been out of control for many years now! Turning into a mini dictatorship up here.

From: Responsible Landlord 23 August 2021 10:36 AM

Responsible Landlord
….making rental properties even harder to get! 👍

From: Responsible Landlord 23 August 2021 10:34 AM

Responsible Landlord
Welcome to Scotland. The country that was once great!

From: Responsible Landlord 23 August 2021 10:26 AM

Responsible Landlord
That’s my thought too.. it’s just a backwards sum calculation. Can’t afford it.. you can’t get it. No different from mortgage stress tests or what most good landlords and agents do anyway

From: Responsible Landlord 23 August 2021 10:10 AM

Responsible Landlord
It feels like Scotland and North Korea are linked now! Should try living here.

From: Responsible Landlord 23 August 2021 10:09 AM

Responsible Landlord
LANDLORDS Don’t blame the landlords for the lack of housing! Shout loud and blame governments and housing associations that have let you down badly.. 
Landlords, work hard, save hard and risk their own cash to invest in property. Try it folks… it’s hard work, really hard work with sacrifices, which deserve rewards. 
I’m sorry but the landlords are an easy target for people and organisations that have taken their eye off the ball, not invested heavily in housing and are now looking for the easy way out and someone else to blame.

From: Responsible Landlord 09 August 2021 09:20 AM

Responsible Landlord
Literally received this last night. It’s always a few that give the majority a bad name. “Hi Alistair, That’s brilliant, thank you so much. We are always very impressed with how quickly you respond + issues are sorted. It’s very much appreciated.” It’s how we ran our agency with c. 400 properties and how we run our personal portfolio

From: Responsible Landlord 26 July 2021 10:18 AM

Responsible Landlord
Absolutely agree with the above. We have dealt with Shelter on numerous occasions and found them really unhelpful despite us trying to help vulnerable clients. “Housing Prevention Officers”

From: Responsible Landlord 06 July 2021 09:15 AM

Responsible Landlord
Not sure it’s all to do with the Conservative government... we have it much worse in Scotland with 4% LGBT, stricter regulations on LL and we have primarily an SNP government! Watch what you wish for guys

From: Responsible Landlord 24 May 2021 14:45 PM

Responsible Landlord
They’ll shout “civil liberties and data protection” at us!!

From: Responsible Landlord 12 May 2021 12:56 PM

Responsible Landlord
The bad landlords in Scotland still don’t register. The councils can check “their own register” but still want agencies to feed all their records back to them.

From: Responsible Landlord 12 May 2021 12:55 PM

Responsible Landlord
NS&I gone from 1% down to 0.1%!

From: Responsible Landlord 06 May 2021 10:02 AM

Responsible Landlord
Is there one massive national finger going around pointing at all landlords? Everyday there seems to be more and more ”you musts, they need to, they will, we need more compliance and warnings”. What other sector is seeing this “bashing” despite the fact the majority of landlords are offering good quality accommodation? I just wonder if the councils endure the same amount of scrutiny or prosecution ... I don’t think so!

From: Responsible Landlord 06 May 2021 09:59 AM

Responsible Landlord
I would seriously doubt that’s it’s “anywhere near half”. Fake news!

From: Responsible Landlord 15 April 2021 10:12 AM

Responsible Landlord
Just leave them in numbers !

From: Responsible Landlord 05 March 2021 19:40 PM

Responsible Landlord
Very sad story indeed and the reason many decent landlords are seen as scum

From: Responsible Landlord 23 February 2021 10:37 AM

Responsible Landlord
We used to operate a well run letting agency. Stopped accepting guarantors as many were refusing to pay, end of. All that was happening was you were taking a bad tenants inability to pay and transferring it on to them.

From: Responsible Landlord 29 January 2021 09:58 AM

Responsible Landlord
This was a massive mistake sending out these flyers. However, if I’m reading this correctly they refer to the “sales market” booming so why the attack on landlords?

From: Responsible Landlord 27 January 2021 09:04 AM

Responsible Landlord
Great idea, but when it comes to paying many “guarantors” just won’t pay up in our experience. Been doing this for 40 years.

From: Responsible Landlord 18 December 2020 15:19 PM

Responsible Landlord
Now that WAS a funny proposal!

From: Responsible Landlord 17 December 2020 12:01 PM

Responsible Landlord
Bit confused also David. Be keen to get clarity

From: Responsible Landlord 08 December 2020 10:31 AM

Responsible Landlord
This unacceptable..BUT..when are we going to see headlines saying Tenants fined for XYZ?

From: Responsible Landlord 18 November 2020 10:44 AM

Responsible Landlord
Great reply Symon

From: Responsible Landlord 03 November 2020 10:14 AM

Responsible Landlord
Can the professor confirm what he has contributed personally prior to this article?

From: Responsible Landlord 03 November 2020 10:13 AM

Responsible Landlord
Yip, it’s always damp, never drying clothes on rads or not ventilating.

From: Responsible Landlord 27 October 2020 10:36 AM

Responsible Landlord
The Morning Star !

From: Responsible Landlord 27 October 2020 10:35 AM

Responsible Landlord
Time you changed your agent! We charged £150 + vat take on/setting up fee and 10% pm Thats no where near a full montyhs rent Michael

From: Responsible Landlord 12 October 2020 11:35 AM

Responsible Landlord
Morning Paul. I read your article with interest and with over 30 years experience as a landlord and 14 years owning/running a highly successful triple award winning, professional letting agency. I agree in part with your comments but in truth “some landlords” shouldn’t even be allowed to own any property. In many cases they will bleed you for information, go off and try to manage it themselves and when things get messy come back and ask you to manage it. In addition many don’t keep up to date with current legislation and compliance and often have tenants in their properties with out of date certification and sometimes with an incorrect lease downloaded from the internet. This is not about how far you stay from your properties, we had let only landlords abroad who managed their portfolios very well, whilst others were far from that. It’s all about being extremely professional, knowing what’s involved and building relationships. We found in some cases landlords didn’t want anywhere near their tenants. Professional staff, training and proper management, costs money. An agent is sometimes the best investment you can make.

From: Responsible Landlord 12 October 2020 09:49 AM

Responsible Landlord
They dont like when thats mentioned.."its taking away my civil liberties/data protection etc...bla bla bla.

From: Responsible Landlord 06 October 2020 11:25 AM

Responsible Landlord
Great post. I agree 100%. When the emotion is taken out of the situation.. landlords are running a business. No one goes into Tesco and walks out with free food!

From: Responsible Landlord 21 August 2020 09:07 AM

Responsible Landlord
By and large go with everything you’ve said Paul. The “expectation” of many drives me absolutely crazy! Why not call the car dealerships and tell them what colour they want their new free car to be before popping down to pick it up!

From: Responsible Landlord 04 June 2020 11:01 AM

Responsible Landlord
There are many angles to private BTL landlords David. These people will have worked incredibly hard to save for deposits to invest in property to become self sufficient and not “live off the state” before and after retirement age, leaving more in the system for others with a greater need. The rent money “is their income”. Having owned rental property for over 40 years and a letting agency for 15 I have seen landlords lose money on investments, left devastated by huge bills through non payment of rent, damage done to properties where the tenants “just disappear” into the abyss to strike again with no accountability to anyone. There are lists of costly certification and accreditation required even before marketing the property through an agent..which costs money. People just assume, the rents £675 so the landlords hopping into the sunset with this. You’ll be lucky if some are taking £100 a month off that. I personally am all for “helping the needy, but certainly not the greedy” .. or constant free loaders!

From: Responsible Landlord 04 June 2020 10:56 AM

Responsible Landlord
The problem with socialism is, you eventually run out of someone else’s money!

From: Responsible Landlord 04 June 2020 10:32 AM

Responsible Landlord
...but will the tenants be able to change it back to being paid directly to them when it suits them? If not, then it’s not secure for the landlord.

From: Responsible Landlord 14 May 2020 11:01 AM

Responsible Landlord
We are similar Adrian and have operated this way with our own BTL properties and when we owned our letting agency. I would always tell staff and prospective clients “we look for the best tenants, not the quickest” as many other agencies did. I would rather keep them out, than try and get them out.

From: Responsible Landlord 15 April 2020 11:45 AM

Responsible Landlord
Assistance is already there to help with rent payment difficulties through the welfare state, that’s what I and millions of other people have paid our taxes for for many years. You can get it twice buy taxing us then given our homes for free!

From: Responsible Landlord 15 April 2020 11:42 AM

Responsible Landlord
I would like to buy a new car as I need this to get about but not in a position to do so just now. Can the government please tell car dealers to let me pop in and pick one up ...and I’ll hand the money in later! I honestly despair at these characters who have absolutely no idea about the economics and workings of being a landlord!

From: Responsible Landlord 15 April 2020 11:36 AM

Responsible Landlord
Many people will now be covered by they’re employer or the governments 80% commitment so in these case there should be not reason not to at lease most of the rent

From: Responsible Landlord 25 March 2020 11:38 AM

Responsible Landlord
What about Acorn taking a holiday?

From: Responsible Landlord 17 March 2020 15:34 PM

Responsible Landlord
Mortgage holiday if fine BUT.. what if the LL relies on the profit earnings from his rentals as his monthly income? A mortgage holiday doesn’t help him?

From: Responsible Landlord 17 March 2020 15:33 PM

Responsible Landlord
What if the landlord relies on his rental funds as his monthly income Mortgage holiday doesn’t help him?

From: Responsible Landlord 17 March 2020 15:31 PM

Responsible Landlord
Tenants say they will pay a larger deposit but they just wont pay the last months rent. Landlords will, as usual, need to cover the cost of tenant/pet remedial work. Pardon the pun but.."the tails wagging the dog here"!

From: Responsible Landlord 03 March 2020 11:50 AM

Responsible Landlord
Mmmm..!

From: Responsible Landlord 26 February 2020 00:14 AM

Responsible Landlord
Your first paragraph highlights what I mentioned earlier. They may be greater need for more legislation/supervision on new installs if your finding problems at 5 years with a new build Suspect we are working with a different client base here.

From: Responsible Landlord 25 February 2020 17:32 PM

Responsible Landlord
William, absolutely, I fully appreciate some/many may fail. However your main initial point was that you had “never” had a satisfactory test. This is the point that I and other readers are finding hard to grasp.

From: Responsible Landlord 25 February 2020 17:21 PM

Responsible Landlord
I have to say, if you have never had a “satisfactory” test in all the years you've been doing this, you must really be visiting some very bad properties. Having been involved in property rental for 40 years, owned a triple award winning agency managing in excess of 350 quality properties for 15 years, I find this either suspicious or staggering. If what you are saying is truly the case and your working on newer properties, maybe it’s the electrical contractors that need greater legislation at the initial install stage..food for thought

From: Responsible Landlord 25 February 2020 16:57 PM

Responsible Landlord
Great post!

From: Responsible Landlord 22 August 2019 18:11 PM

Responsible Landlord
I do feel your 100% in many cases. We used to run a successful letting agency and had many couples as tenants who had, the 2 leased new cars, went out most weekends and on foreign holidays...but they “just couldn’t afford a deposit, because renting was so expensive”! Waken up!! When we got our first house, I had 4 jobs, my wife had 2, rarely went out, got paving slabs for my birthday as we couldn’t afford them and our path to the house was a death trap. Holidays..never heard of them!

From: Responsible Landlord 22 August 2019 18:10 PM

Responsible Landlord
I agree

From: Responsible Landlord 27 June 2019 12:23 PM

Responsible Landlord
Another article in Landlord Today - Headline ... “Rogue landlord ordered to pay £10,000 for renting out poor quality housing” This is absolutely right to happen but “NOTHING” will happen to the tenants that caused all the damage to this poor woman’s, and many others, property. Punishments are not hard enough for wilful damage. These people just move “say they’ve never rented before” and cause havoc and misery somewhere else. Time for stiffer action . Have a tenant register, national insurance number etc. They either pay or are declared bankrupt which will affect their future chances. Makes my blood boil!

From: Responsible Landlord 26 June 2019 10:46 AM

Responsible Landlord
Oh...they will be FREE too. Just like when all private landlords had to upgrade their smoke/heat detectors in Scotland..but council housing didn’t! Makes my blood boil!

From: Responsible Landlord 05 June 2019 10:10 AM

Responsible Landlord
Deary, deary me!

From: Responsible Landlord 12 April 2019 15:46 PM

Responsible Landlord
Very poor article and loaded towards a tenant survey. Will the next one be “.. 100% of private landlords would like rent increases” to cover the vast pile of costly legislation/compliance, reduced tax allowance, fees, etc etc”

From: Responsible Landlord 12 April 2019 11:23 AM

Responsible Landlord
Great post, the reality is he was actually more honest, upfront and open than the BBC and it’s presenter! Would rather have that any day.

From: Responsible Landlord 19 March 2019 15:45 PM

Responsible Landlord
My son felt the same about his attitude, he doesn’t actually help, either his own case, or that of other decent landlords

From: Responsible Landlord 19 March 2019 15:43 PM

Responsible Landlord
Many councils tell the private tenants to “stay where they are” and wait until they are evicted as they don’t have any council accommodation. What chance do Landlord’s stand when you get irresponsible advice being given from the authorities!

From: Responsible Landlord 19 March 2019 11:43 AM

Responsible Landlord
Absolutely right, I was virtually screaming at the TV last night, they are not eviction notices.

From: Responsible Landlord 19 March 2019 11:39 AM

Responsible Landlord
This really is a great post and I feel your frustration. The Government and zcouncil don’t have the funds so they’re now trying to make the PRS social! If tenants and Councils thought they had a problem with Fergus, they’re going to have a bigger one once all of theses tenants look to the Councils for assistance. There won’t be a hotel or Travel Lodge room available for miles around

From: Responsible Landlord 19 March 2019 10:05 AM

Responsible Landlord
SHELTER..SHELTER!! I would doubt that very much. Having owned and run a very well respected letting agency we approached Shelter on numerous occasions for help and advice on how to assist clients who were clearly in a bad place. Their answer “every time” was “ , sorry we don’t deal with agents! Furious to this day!

From: Responsible Landlord 19 March 2019 09:51 AM

Responsible Landlord
BBCPanorama - can the programme makers make another announcement that these eviction terms “only apply in England, not Scotland” However the landlord has every right to sell his investment/property anytime he wants with the statutory notice. These are his “investments”. No different from stocks and shares, wine, cars etc Its only an emotive subject as it’s housing. But it should not be up “the public” to sort out the nations housing problem. No, I don’t agree with his delivery Yes, every tenant has the right for maintenance to be carried out if genuine. But..as pointed out earlier, it’s business! Highly irresponsible reporting from the BBC, no one was “booted out”! Most of Fergus’s points were very valid, he was just saying what many landlords and agent think!

From: Responsible Landlord 19 March 2019 09:40 AM

Responsible Landlord
150%!

From: Responsible Landlord 13 March 2019 09:29 AM

Responsible Landlord
When you say “all cash” presumably the article means nothing to sell? No solicitor is going to accept “cash” Trying to settle a discussion.

From: Responsible Landlord 25 February 2019 09:01 AM

Responsible Landlord
Well said, I thought there was a hidden agenda in the post!

From: Responsible Landlord 03 January 2019 10:14 AM

Responsible Landlord
That's exactly right James. The landlords have no options in most cases "even if they wanted to let to DSS, due to the lenders conditions". But Shelter prefer to LL/agent bash. My previous experience is that Shelter "will not discuss anything" with LL or letting agents..absolutely ludicrous!! This is fact, even when we have been actively trying to assist a DSS or homeless client and have experienced this on several occasions. Tell the homeless this!

From: Responsible Landlord 22 November 2018 16:46 PM

Responsible Landlord
With my previous business we were asked to go along to a Council meeting along with other local agents to discuss the possibility of working alongside the local autority and posting all our rented properties on the Council website. After much discussion someone asked why they had stopped taking on landlords properties for a 3 year period and guaranteeing them the rent for this term, albeit around 15% below market value. The idea was they had control and the LL got his money each month. A junior member of the Councils panel jumped in and said "oh, it's because we were having to spend so much money in bringing them back up to standard before we could give them back to the landlord at the end of the term..in some cases around £14,000! Her comments were much to the anger of the senior member of the Council, however the fact is it's true. The Council had answered their own question as to why LL/agents we not interested in becoming involved. This has not changed all these years later. Once the decision makers put a mechanism in place to make certain tenants wholly accountable for their own actions, then maybe the industry will sit up and take note. PS..and that's not we will pay you back £10/month for the next 100 years

From: Responsible Landlord 22 November 2018 10:20 AM

Responsible Landlord
Excellent post, 100% right. It’s clear the people who are trying to push this through have never been exposed to the losses that can occur. The practice of Councils telling private tenant to “stay where you are” despite not paying the landlord their rent is completely irresponsible. It’s very much a case of, we can’t house you, so stay where you are and the landlord can pick up the legal costs and potential default on his own BTL mortgage.

From: Responsible Landlord 22 November 2018 09:54 AM

Responsible Landlord
Presumably you agree with the need for a “rougue tenant register then”? ... which will never happen sadly!

From: Responsible Landlord 26 October 2018 09:38 AM

Responsible Landlord
You beat me to it with this. I’m sure the answer will be “Oh no, that would breach their data protection and civil rights” Would rather let them head off into the sunset to create havoc and damage to another innocent landlords property anonymously! Makes my blood boil!

From: Responsible Landlord 26 October 2018 09:36 AM

Responsible Landlord
Hi Asa, just for clarity do you know how tenets “verify” their payment record to the credit companies?

From: Responsible Landlord 26 October 2018 09:33 AM

Responsible Landlord
Thank for the industry support Bill. Good post

From: Responsible Landlord 01 August 2018 09:13 AM

Responsible Landlord
I think Homerenter, whilst a fair idea in isolation, doesn’t recognise or masks what agents “really do”. That’s not taking money for nothing or driving around looking at nice houses..or not, but working tirelessly, 24/7 to ensure landlords and tenants are well cared for and maintenance is responded to quickly, carried out well at a fair price. Having been involved in rental property for over 40 years and having just sold our agency due to retirment it is a very difficult job to try and keep all concerned happy in the micro monitored world we live in now. Try and manage/run rental properties on the cheap and I guarantee you will pay a heavy price later I genuinely wish the company well

From: Responsible Landlord 01 August 2018 09:11 AM

Responsible Landlord
This is also our experience with lenders

From: Responsible Landlord 26 March 2018 12:21 PM

Responsible Landlord
Morning Guys, Just for clarity, we are finding that certain "buy to let lenders" are stipulating that landlords cannot rent their properties to benefit clients. Not saying this is right or wrong, but the article does suggest its the landlords/agencies who are unwilling. The article is also written by an insurer which does slant their view slightly . Happy to listen to all sides.

From: Responsible Landlord 26 March 2018 10:42 AM

Responsible Landlord
The problem is much wider than any government.

From: Responsible Landlord 08 March 2018 09:37 AM

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