Council launches lettings agency to help homeless families

I would not go near it after reading this https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-12326625/Havering-council-wont-house-TONY-HETHERINGTON-investigates.html

and I am guessing each visit they find an issue with the property and raise an improvement notice?

'As a landlord, we already have 5,700 social housing properties that we manage and maintain on a daily basis.'“We are offering to bring that expertise to support our landlords, while guaranteeing them rental income.”

They cant look after what they own! Daily basis my ar$e. EXPERTISE? in what exactly? Supporting landlords? All they want to do is fine and prosecute you!

This is a scam if every I have seen one.

PUT YOU TRUST IN A CITY COUNCIL 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.

put your trust in a company that can't run its own properties?

Imagine using them as an agent and asking for customer references. Yes I am sure Mr & Mrs Smith of 52 Acacia Avenue who are direct tenants of said 'agent' who have not had a gas cert for 3 years, dodgy electrics, mould and an outstanding complaint with the council for repairs will be happy to provide one......

If this were listed on Companies House showing a deficit of millions...do they really beleive people will enter what is essentially a commercial agreement with them....?

I dont know what is worse. Them being so naive to even thing this is viable or so stupid not to see why this can never work????

Reply to the comment left by LL Minion at 02/11/2023 - 13:21
Its not always about rental income - it costs far more to put the house back together after Mr Temp Accomm (who was evicted previously for ASB and damage issues) trashes the place.

Of course...GDPR...we cant tell you why he is in TA in the first place....

If a LL signs up to this they are going to put in the worst tenants - those who are playing up in the current B&B's/TA. Out of sight out of mind...

If being a landlord is so easy please offer to take properties on a full repairing lease........ what do you mean too much risk?

These people have no commercial sense. They live in their own little local government world, where they waste taxpayers' money on overpriced and poor quality servicing and repairs, and get bailed out when they have no money left.

Why would any landlord want to trash the neighbourhood they've invested in?

If they did, it's a kiss goodbye to any capital growth. There's no control over who lives in the property and no known 'standard' when it comes to looking after the property in the way that a pro-active landlord would.

While it might appeal to some 'let it and forget it' landlords, good luck to them down the track of time. They can find out at their own cost what the churn in tenancies has done to neighbourhood stability - its lack of capital growth as a result - and why the property is the least desirable address in its location when the owner gets it back.

Any 'repairs' carried out will be of the bodge-it variety by any oik available at the cheapest price. No work will be done to a guaranteed standard - that much is definitely guaranteed!!

Be prepared for the cost and expense of full rip-out repairs at the end of time for no real benefit - which is higly likely if the area has gone downhill. Or skip that and sell at a loss - just to get shot of the place.

Overall, letting to the Council is not sounding like a recipe for successful investment, is it?

Lord

PS: I did let to the Council in the past - but only the once - never again!

The property's long garden got fenced off less than half way down 'to make it more manageable' for the tenants. The tenants didn't maintain the area closest to the house and the area beyond the fence turned into an overgrown jungle that the Council didn't return as they took it on. The council simply said that they didn't need all of the garden and after 4 years of neglect it was left for me to clear at a considerable/unexpected cost.

Children of the council's tenants took to standing on a ladder to throw stones at the neighbour's Koi carp. The neighbour located me and complained most vociferously on my doorstep - out of the blue. I took the complaint to the council immediately - where I got accused of living an 'ideal life'. I was told children are children - all that is to be expected. Nothing we can do, they said. As stated, they duly did nothing about it.

I tried to cancel the lease with the council before its end. They were really good at engaging their legal team to tell me why that wouldn't be happening. No expense was spared on the legal fees spent by the council.

I had three years of hell from the decent-living home-owning neighbours who had to put up with the council's tenants. I felt so ashamed of the decision I made and was genuinely sorry for the neighbours but I was powerless after the contract was made.

I would never wish this experience on anyone. Just don't do it!!

Reply to the comment left by Reluctant Landlord at 02/11/2023 - 17:12
If its not all about rental income what are you in the landlord business for .? It certainly not the fun of it..

Reply to the comment left by Michael Booth at 03/11/2023 - 06:41
what i mean is, you put rent income against risk of property being trashed. I could be offered 20% more rent but if the risk of the property being trashed and cost thousands to put right then asking for more rent is never going to justify that risk or probably compensate for the damage/hassle/ voids etc. How do you weigh up a bit more rent over having no idea when you could get your house back from a council for instance.