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Alison King

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Being a pet landlord is not without challenges. Recently the neighbours complained because the tenants' dog was barking incessantly when they were out. The neighbours were as concerned about the dog's welfare as much as the noise. There was a showdown in the street when the tenants came home and they ended up in tears. They were so upset that they went away with the dog for a couple of weeks whilst they considered what to do. I took the opportunity to do some maintenance whilst they were away, and discovered that the battery was low on both the smoke alarm and the CO alarm. Every minute or so, both devices gave off a high pitched warning chirrup. It was enough to drive me mad, let alone a poor animal! No wonder it was barking all day.

From: Alison King 06 January 2022 11:28 AM

I say "clean well-behaved pets considered" in my adverts and I get people begging me to rent to them without even seeing the property. I'm sure that is why. In my experience pet owning tenants tend to stay longer. There is usually some pet damage at the end, maybe a ripped carpet or scratched door frame, but I budget for some minor repairs at the end of a tenancy and so far the costs of repair have been within budget.

From: Alison King 06 January 2022 11:19 AM

Because Estate Agents advise them to. I had exactly this recently. I noticed that properties had gone up in my area and called the local Estate Agent for a valuation; more out of curiosity than a real intention to sell. Obviously I had to explain to the tenants why the estate agents were coming round but I also reassured them that I was only thinking of selling and would not force them to move out. The estate agent valued the property at £110k with tenants or £130K without. A few weeks later the tenants contacted me to say they had been thinking of moving anyway and had found somewhere else. I told the agents to advertise it and see what happened. Within days I had ten offers above the asking price and it sold for £140K. That's over twice what I paid for it eight years ago.

From: Alison King 18 December 2021 11:54 AM

I don't put tents up for incumbent tenants and I lowered the rent on my commercial property during Covid and I let my student tenants leave early without having to pay rent to the end of the year. I am sick of being told I don't do enough and have already initiated my exit plan.

From: Alison King 18 November 2021 07:59 AM

Paul Shamplina is absolutely right. Section 21 allows a landlord to resolve a difficult situation without having to drag the tenant through the courts, and which gives the tenant the best chance of finding a new home and starting afresh.

From: Alison King 10 November 2021 08:41 AM

And all he gets is a parking fine? Time that judge retired.

From: Alison King 09 November 2021 09:12 AM

Hopefully they will realise that so called "no fault evictions" really are necessary if relations have broken down to such an extent that the best solution is a parting of the ways.

From: Alison King 09 November 2021 09:08 AM

There needs to be proper advice on the best way to achieve this for older properties. Shoving cladding on the front of a Victorian terrace makes it look ludicrous and results in damp issues, when the energy bills for these properties are not high in the first place.

From: Alison King 08 October 2021 08:30 AM

Small landlords who rent out one or two properties to supplement their pensions and provide a personal service to their tenants are a win-win in this country, yet these are exactly the people being driven out by generation rent in favour of multi-billion corporations who can do things on a scale and don't care about personal service and mutual support. You would think left-wing groups would support the small person, but it seems not.

From: Alison King 31 August 2021 12:17 PM

I don't come from a privileged background. I worked hard, saved hard and put a lot of effort into getting qualifications. I find the thought of being poor frightening, especially in old age so I have striven to avoid that. I've put my savings in property because I want to make the money work, and because I love being a landlord. I have a great relationship with my tenants and I enjoy ensuring that they have good quality, affordable homes. I've never charged money upfront and have been very flexible all through the pandemic. A few of my tenants are in arrears, but we have a plan to manage that and I'm confident that they have every intention to catch up soon. However, I'm now selling one house and intend to sell the rest as the tenants move out. I'm sick of the stress of constant legal changes and obligations, worried that future tenants may no be so nice and fed up with being branded a parasite. I'm told that my properties are popular with overseas investors so I doubt the next generation of landlords will provide the personal service that traditonal small-scale retiree landlords like me have offered.

From: Alison King 29 July 2021 10:38 AM

I'd rather show the tenants round myself than have the agent charge them for doing this. I have yet to convince myself that agents offer anything that justifies their fees.

From: Alison King 28 July 2021 09:21 AM

It's their own fault there is confusion. Until about 2014 their own website said landlords were allowed up to about 10k in rental income without needing to declare it. Then they silently removed that line and left it to people to find out they were paying too little tax.

From: Alison King 22 July 2021 11:26 AM

I agree with more financial help for people at risk of losing their homes, but the eviction ban places the costs of defaulting tenants on the landlord, including rogue, criminal tenants against whom there is little protection, and whom we all fear. I have always had lovely, honest tenants who have kept my houses in good condition and paid on time, but if I can't evict without it getting nasty, I'm out. My plan is to sell one property a year from now on.

From: Alison King 19 July 2021 08:10 AM

Scottish Power could not manage a proverbial in a brewery. I have a recently converted student HMO and the bills are included in the rent. Obviously I need to keep a tight grip on this especially in the first year whilst I'm getting a feel for what is reasonable consumption. Getting an "actuals" bill out of Scottish Power is like getting blood out of a stone. They even sent me a bill that said "customer supplied reading" with a reading that was much lower than the reading I gave them. As for paying bills, the text reminder always comes on a Saturday evening when the payment line is closed, and the online system that they direct you to showed a former closed account and not the current one, and despite numerous complaints this was never resolved. Their helpline person even bizarrely offered to send an engineer round to see if they could help. Then one day they rang out of the blue to offer me a smart meter. Yes! The answer to my prayers. We agreed a date and a time and I drove the 200 or so miles to meet the engineer. I even rang them a few days before to check that he was definitely coming. "Yes" they said. Did he turn up? Of course not. "Appointment not on our system" they said. Let's see if Octopus can do better.

From: Alison King 29 June 2021 18:04 PM

I assume they include council and housing association landlords in their abuse as evidence shows they share the same challenges as private landlords. Actually my tenants are all lovely and we have a great and mutually beneficial relationship. Nevertheless I am sick of pressure groups branding me a parasite and my first property is on the market. That's one less lovely home for those who want or have to rent.

From: Alison King 11 June 2021 09:16 AM

Its a pity this hostility is being encouraged. I have a great relationship with my tenants and I don't think any of them would try to stitch me up. But just the thought of it is enough to put me off and may ultimately lead to me and others like me withdrawing from the rental sector, which means fewer homes for those who wish to rent.

From: Alison King 07 June 2021 08:10 AM

Whenever I read things like this I just feel like selling up, even though I have lovely tenants who tell me I'm a good landlord and my properties are well maintained. When you do your best and still get bias and prejudice you just want to throw in the towel and walk away. Its not surprising there is a shortage of rental property.

From: Alison King 04 June 2021 13:46 PM

I think a lot of section 21s get issued because the tenant is actually at fault, usually struggling with the rent, and the landlord wants to give them every chance to find another home and make a fresh start. Section 8 goes on the tenants record and makes it very hard for them to find a new home.

From: Alison King 26 May 2021 12:40 PM

Whenever I read things like this I feel like selling up and getting out. It's a pity as I've never evicted a tenant and I have a great relationship with all mine, but things like this make me feel pressured when things are already difficult.

From: Alison King 26 May 2021 12:36 PM

How is a landlord supposed to "manage the anti social behaviour of their tenants?" Making nightmare tenants a landlord's responsibility is like rubbing salt into a wound, especially when so much is geared towards helping the tenant. Landlords need support is difficult situations, not censure.

From: Alison King 20 May 2021 10:36 AM

I'm trying to justify the costs of an agent having successfully managed my properties over the past 7 years. I don't have an issue with the agents professionalism but they want 13.5% plus they charge extra for things like an inventory, which I already have, and want to use their credit referencing and deposit protection scheme that they are charging six times the cost I currently pay for. Then they say they will visit the property three times a year, which is less that I do and I would still want to visit the property anyway. It seems to me they do all the easy bits. My problem is that my HMO licence requires one licensee to be local and my daughter is moving away from the area. Its a conundrum.

From: Alison King 20 May 2021 10:25 AM

What does this mean: “Additionally, the government must prevent ‘double jeopardy’ and only extend redress membership to properties that are fully managed.”

From: Alison King 12 May 2021 17:34 PM

Good. Well now the Labout housing chief has a fuller understanding of why so many landlords feel driven out of the sector leaving their tenants homeless.

From: Alison King 11 May 2021 09:25 AM

Rodents can be really difficult to get rid of, especially if the tenants have pets as it means you can't use poison. My handyman has tried everything and I told my tenants to contact the council's pest control unit and I'll pay the bill, but they said they did that and the council said they would just do everything we've already done. It's a lose-lose for the landlord.

From: Alison King 22 April 2021 11:08 AM

What sort of detailed information are they looking for? I'm struggling to imagine what it might be.

From: Alison King 22 April 2021 11:00 AM

Re "Landlords and tenants hate each other".. we absolutely do not! My tenants are all lovely and regularly tell me what a great landlord I am. I am reluctantly having to consider selling some properties because I am finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with all the legislation and taxation, most of which applies only to private landlords, and not to social landlords or owner occupied homes. I've ploughed my lifes savings into turning poor quality houses into lovely homes that people want to live in. I'll try and avoid evicting tenants but realistically I am going to have to put the rents up or sell.

From: Alison King 21 April 2021 13:06 PM

During a pandemic is not the ideal time to sell, especially as tenants are not in a good position to move out right now.

From: Alison King 13 April 2021 09:31 AM

They are absolutely correct. My current plan is to sell my five EPC D properties, one a year over the next five years. The first set of tenants have already been told.

From: Alison King 08 April 2021 09:11 AM

I do allow pets, but that's because my target market is families and for the longer term. But it is undeniable that this comes with issues. Damaged carpets and scratched doors especially.

From: Alison King 06 April 2021 09:28 AM

If we house benefit tenants, we are leaching off public money. If we don't house them, we are discriminating against the poor. It's a lose-lose situation, and the biggest losers of all are people who want or need to rent but can't find anywhere because small, private, conscientious landlords have been driven out of the sector by the high costs, risks and constant unjust demonising by people who are not their tenants.

From: Alison King 01 April 2021 10:17 AM

My builder told me not to do anything yet. He says the current available external cladding is not suitable for my Victorian terraces, and it looks terrible anyway. I've been told that the current assessment methods under-estimate the actual efficiency of these properties and proposed solutions do not take into account the fundamental design which needs the walls to be breathable to avoid condensation.

From: Alison King 01 March 2021 09:30 AM

I do allow pets. I say "Clean, well behaved pets considered" and I get a lot of applicants prospective tenants begging me to let them have the property before they have even seen it. However, I disagree about the allergy thing. It can be a genuine issue and I have had a new tenant report allergy issues caused by a previous occupant's pet.

From: Alison King 18 December 2020 16:19 PM

This is utterly ludicrous. It's in a landlord's interests to keep good tenants not to lose them just because they've temporarily hit hard times during Covid. Research from the NRLA has confirmed that we have been helping our tenants where we can. For my part I've agreed that my commercial tenant can pay a lot less rent whilst the business is being impacted by Covid and where my residential tenants are struggling I've given them breaks. As for my student let, some of the students haven't even arrived yet, but I'm still holding their rooms for them, and no they don't pay until they arrive. I'm lucky to be able to do that without sinking under bevause I have small mortgages but some landlords must be really struggling. To say landlords aren't taking their share is like kicking someone when they are down and quite honestly makes me feel like giving up and selling up.

From: Alison King 05 November 2020 20:18 PM

It depends whether or not any of the lodgers has another permanent address elsewhere or are only Monday-Friday lodgers. If so they are guests not lodgers, even if they pay for the room.

From: Alison King 14 October 2020 20:58 PM

I've been in this business for seven years and its never been "easy money". It takes time to renovate a property and tenants rightly expect high standards. I'm on 24 hour callout and properties need a lot of maintenance. I do it because I enjoy being my own boss and get pleasure out of providing decent homes to young families. The government offers no support, only increasing amounts of legislation aimed at driving more conscientious landlords out of the business. Where their tenants are supposed to go, who knows? The latest proposal to raise minimum EPC to C will probably drive me out of business, which is distressing as most of my tenants are long term or have been passed the property by family members.

From: Alison King 09 October 2020 09:13 AM

Well, that will make it impossible to sell for those who have already released equity by remortgaging. Maybe that's the intention. To trap people into into having to rent out at no profit and with no way out except bankruptcy.

From: Alison King 09 October 2019 21:15 PM

Far better to have huge properties with one or two occupants rattling around in them (not). Landlords can't win. Try to address under occupancy and we are rogues. Accept housing benefit tenants and we are thieves.

From: Alison King 12 April 2017 12:18 PM

I think anything that involves having to remove the plaster is immensely disruptive for the tenant, such as a full damp course or wall tie replacement. Also asbestos removal including artex. Lead piping replacement can involve ripping up the floorboards. Agreeing with the tenant to do these things when they are on holiday is fine in theory. But when you are at the behest of contractors or water authorities who may let you down, you can't take the risk. Having had this problem myself I would never again consider letting a property until all outstanding major works are fully completed.

From: Alison King 20 December 2016 09:17 AM

My last tenants left loads of stuff behind including sofa bed, stereo and a tumble dryer. I told the next tenants to keep what they wanted and junk the rest.

From: Alison King 17 October 2016 13:27 PM

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