In stunning life-swap television last night, BBC1 showed how well-off private landlords reacted when they moved into their tenants’ homes for a week.
If you missed it, do play catch-up as the programme said a lot about the housing crisis, and the haves and have-nots, and about the role of housing as opposed to that of providing homes.
Super-wealthy father and son landlords Peter and Mark were appalled to move into their tenant’s home, riddled with damp and mould, with taps and the cooker not working, and with heating bills that their tenant – who had just £54 a week to live on after essential bills were paid – was struggling to afford.
The tenant, in her mid-sixties, was still having to work full-time and, when she moved out to let them live in her terrible living conditions for a week, left them a pitiful note asking them not to turn on the heating in her bedroom as she could not pay the bill.
Those particular landlords have a £7m property portfolio, and the programme showed them consulting a local agent, Hunters.
To their great credit, they totally renovated her flat and offered to help if she has problems paying her heating in future – and said they were still making a profit.
In the second case study, the wealthy landlord moved into a room in an HMO, where there were tatty conditions, including an off-putting kitchen plus rats in the garden, and the tenants did not know each other.
The very well-heeled landlord, Paul Preston, said his business model was all about turning properties into multi-living properties where he could get more money. But after a week in a miserable bedsit, told his tenant that he realised that his properties had to be more about homes and human engagement.
Above all, the programme showed that landlords cannot shove people into properties – or inherit the tenants – and then forget about them.
Or if they can, they shouldn’t.
- The Week the Landlord Moved in: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08ws37c/the-week-the-landlords-moved-in-series-1-episode-1
So what chance that they would use a landlord who kept their property in great shape? Who actually knew what was going on with their property. No they find landlords who are surprised to learn that the property is damp and that appliances don’t work.
How sadly predicable.
Imagine how dull the program would be if the tenants were happy and the properties in good shape. No that won’t work, there is an agenda here to fulfil. We need bad landlords and unhappy tenants.
Glad I didn’t watch. It sounds like I missed exactly what I expected to miss.
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My view:
The programme was only made possible due to poor quality rental properties.
We have regular inspections done on ours, so any issues are flagged up, even if the tenant does not report them.I am glad I did not take part and would not have been a suitable candidate anyway.
Some of our rental properties are nicer than the house we live in and I don’t have a prestige car to show the disparity between myself and our tenants.
The landlords were set up for a fall at the beginning. Sound-bites were selected to show their arrogance and view of their own success and importance.
The fact that both tenant and landlord learned something was positive, but all that could have been prevented by better management and treating tenants as people, not a rent payment.It is sad that it takes a TV programme to teach a landlord a lesson.
Remember, these were not newbie landlords – they were experienced and wealthy, Paul Preston even selling expensive mentoring and training.
Quite frankly, they should have known better.
The programme will foster further anti-landlord hatred as people look at the exaggerated gap between the lifestyle of the landlord and the lifestyle of the tenant – which was highlighted throughout the programme with emotional scenes designed to make viewers feel sorry for the tenant.
Most landlords I know do not wear their wealth or brag about it.
The programme will claim the moral high ground for teaching greedy landlords a lesson and forcing them to improve their properties. A public shaming.
If it wasn’t televised, we don’t know if the landlords involved would have made any changes, and what about the rest of the properties in their portfolio – are they in similar disrepair and will they fix them?
One thing I do know – landlords shouldn’t learn at the expense of their tenant’s health and well-being, which is what happened in this programme. They should have had a much better idea of conditions at their properties, instead of thinking they can leave them for years with no maintenance or up-grades.
How did Paul Preston get new HMO tenants without visiting the properties to facilitate viewings? Surely Paul or someone from his team would have noticed mould and rats when arranging for prospective tenants to view a room that had come vacant?
I hope a take-away lesson for all landlords is the importance of mid-term property inspections, and encouraging tenants to report maintenance issues – there are various tech products that assist and streamline this process.
If you undertake quarterly inspections, you can nip problems like damp and mould before they escalate, not to mention deal with repair and maintenance issues in a prompt manner.
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Can we stop using the term “housing crisis”.
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Typically predictable bias from left wing BBC making political mischief.
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