Mick Roberts

He makes people homeless every time he talks.
He says:
“Is it good, is it right that so many people sleep rough? Don’t people have a right to a roof over their head?”

Is it my job to house them then? At a price Corbyn chooses? Why don't Corbyn come buy all my houses, house all my tenants & I'll tell him the rent he can charge them? Sign me up please.... Read More

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I know what happened to several of mine when had to evict the bad ones when Selective Licensing came in, as we were worried Licensing would inspect the house damage the tenant has caused & make us pay 10k to fix.
One husband & wife lived in a tent by the River Trent for 2 years.
Then their daughter year later asked me for an house.... Read More

That's not soaring.
Do you mean increased by a normal amount?... Read More

Nottm Council already got the big problem. I talk to the homeless side regularly-They are major struggling. I not be retiring. There is still 10 to 20 houses I'm gonna' be able to sell-One example mates 73 year old Mum moved in 2 years ago-Cannot sell on people like that.... Read More

Daft in't it though how little thick me from Bulwell not been college can solve 50% of the UK's homeless in 2 seconds & save Govt money.
UC for example, why take away something that worked when Landlord could talk to Housing Benefit & tenant was saved from homeless....... Read More

Be nice to hear your tips on selling. My first 15 or so tenants have took it well. Had 61 year old woman who's lived there 22 years ringing me crying saying I can't sell, can't I wait till she passes away. She don't want any other Landlord. Told her I'm losing 4k pa on her than if I sold the house. But I said that is not the reason, u could give me 3k pm, it is not u. I cannot cope any more with what changes the Govt & Council keep bringing & may bring next.

Where are your houses Peter?

I've got some worth 200k that may only fetch 160k with tenant in, I'm gonna' have to tell tenants I don't mind losing 10 to 20k keeping u in, but I'm not losing 40k. I don't know what to do, don't want to give them Section 21.... Read More

Be nice when sold some to watch some TV on a Sat afternoon instead of going in office cause behind with new Council & Govt rules.
Got 30+ emails in me inbox from Selective Licensing want £600ish each when I told em I'm selling em. No human intervention.... Read More

That's it Monty, Govt think these BTR schemes are the answer. How on earth are LHA tenants gonna' afford em.

At no point since 2018 (Selective Licensing start Nottingham) has any Council or Govt person come ask my tenants what they want.
Miliband soon as he announced EPC C again a few months ago, he instantly made thousands homeless.... Read More

Ha ha... Read More

Great description, I'll add mine again, feel free to copy & share anyone.

WhyTenantsCan'tGetHouses

A background to why you tenants are paying extortionate rents and can't get anywhere unless you earning a cracking wage-Blame the Govt and Councils you vote for because you like it when they give more regs & rules to the Landlord-Guess who pays for this? You do.

I'm the biggest private provider to Benefit tenants in Nottingham over 27 years and not once has the Govt and Council come to ask me What they can do for me, so I and my colleagues will take the people we used to take. I will add to this list as I remember more.

They wanted Pet deposits banned.
Cause we'd want £100 more in case dog did damage.
End of tenancy, dog did no damage, tenant got all deposit back.
2019 you banned higher pet deposits cause some tenants didn't like it when dog did damage & didn't get their deposit back.
We stopped taking pets.
2024 MP stood up in Parliament and called for Pet deposits to be reinstated cause tenants with pets couldn't get accommodation.
You couldn't make this up.
Description here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u54ouYTdNr7WaCPYW18Q_tZdlJr8-VwSUJpE0IcPf5k/edit?usp=drivesdk

They don't want Landlords helping tenants with Benefits and they bought in Universal Credit which has zero communication with Landlord- We now don't take Benefit tenants.

They bought in Selective Licensing on good Landlords with good houses. We put the rents up to cover it and now don't take risky tenants.

Landlord can get fined £30,000 if tenant takes battery out smoke alarm and Landlord CAN'T prove that tenant did it.

Landlord can get fined £30,000 if renting 1 bed flat to single person and he/she moves his/her partner in unbeknown to the Landlord if the Selective License only has license for one occupier.

They started fining Landlords £5000 if they didn't check tenants passport properly on Right to Rent checks-Landlords stopped taking anyone that had the slightest chance of being illegal immigrant. Innocent UK citizens suffered.

2015, they bought in that if Landlord CANNOT PROVE he/she has gave tenant boiler certificate, you can never get your property back. Even if had a new boiler 5 years later, Judge says Not bothered, u not having your house back. This helped the current bad tenant, hurts the next 100,000 tenants waiting for a home. A purely Anti Landlord measure to stop Landlord getting rid bad tenant or having his house back.

Oct 2024 Unison now wants a rent freeze. Ooh are we a charity are we? What other individual who sells or provides something is told YOU CANNOT charge a price u wish?

Oct 2024 the Renter Rights Bill is going to make it law, u can't do rent increase unless use Section 13. Now for years, I've agreed informally with tenant 'Ok £25 a month, u still £200pm now below anyone else.' Job done.
Now, I'm totally full up with paperwork and rules and regs. I have no more time. Section 13 some more say only a few mins. It's still 30 mins by time printed, filled in, signed, scanned, sent. Each one when u have lots of houses on top of Selective Licensing INSISTING we inspect each house every 4 months (two weeks solid just on inspections every months) is taking me over the edge. My existing tenants are going to have to go with Letting Agent who charge £50 for a Section 13. That's £4pm extra on the rent. Along with the extra £80pm Letting Agent fee which gets rid of cheap rent was charity.

Sep 2024 Ed Miliband MP wants all houses to EPC C which will cost Landlords £5000 and increase tenants cheap rents. As soon he announced this, he made more tenants homeless. Few words on that here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eI7z29SNRCDLLwX6_0QQChrwTxZ4jGZw4UNybVYfD1s/edit?usp=drivesdk

Section 24 Tax bought in by George Osborne of the Tories who said it will only affect 1 in 5 Landlords-That's over 2 million tenants put at risk of homeless. Landlords with tenants of 25 years are now being made homeless on this one action alone.

Oct 2024 I've heard there's a part of the RRB that says we must give tenants our home address on paperwork.
Details of that here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v7aETrvz0j6CdS7LZwYukthZAbhNxLWRKR8qShi6Gok/edit?usp=drivesdk

Every anti Landlord measure they bring in to they think will help the tenant has hurt the tenants massively.

Every time the MP's talk an anti landlord measure, they've made more homeless and increased rents.

There is loads more... Read More

My houses have got worse last 7 years.
As we know with Selective Licensing and the losses and time from UC and Section 24, we have less funds. Now that's OK if we give full price rent increases to tenants to pay for these things, but if we try look after tenants with lower rents, they know these 2020 rents don't pay for 2025 repairs. So my tenants don't ask for nothing on £700pm cause they know if they do, I then have to charge the normal £850. Ooh sounds awful dun't it. Go argue with the people that bring in these ever increasing changes that cost.

So much so, that now I'm starting to sell me houses and go in houses I've not been in for 20 years and some of em are wrecked. Got to spend 20k on em if was doing em to sell. So I'd have been better off charging the normal rent as at least had money to do em up, and tenant then would have been asking for stuff and got theirselves a nice house-Although wait for it, they'd have been on worse poverty paying normal rent.
I'm going off track, so yes my houses have got worse cause funds and time have gone on Council and Govt retrospective changes.... Read More

There's many good Landlords out there, many good tenants. They all suffering cause of the Draconian rules to protect the bad tenant & bought in against the minority bad Landlords.... Read More

It's still bizarre now 7 years after Licensing started, how the Councillor above them & the homeless section does not listen to the homeless section when they tell em biggest reason Landlords don't give their tenants houses is cause of Selective Licensing.

Same with UC, come ask us why we not taking UC. So so simple to solve.... Read More

They forcing the good Landlords out & good tenants are suffering.... Read More

Thanks for clarifying Bill.

And wow this is shocking:
In parts of London, where the overall Benefits Cap applies, DWP refuses to pay any of the "housing costs" to the landlord.... Read More

You say it perfectly Markella. Amount of people homeless from UC is shocking.
I have tenants revert it back to theirselves without UC asking me if still in arrears.... Read More

Ooh yes, I know, I'm prepared to lose 10k a house to new Landlord to keep tenant in.
Although I'm not desperate as most of mine are good tenants been there 20 years.... Read More

That is shocking.

Do not a lot of tenants undermine the tenancy? That's why we want these things.
I'm selling most of mine next 2 years & I'll keep repeating it till enough people know it as I never thought I'd sell on some tenants, although I'm gonna' try my hardest to get new Landlord to buy to keep 'em in.

13 weeks rent arrears? Wow, Shelter & Generation Rent have really shot theirselves in the foot, protecting one tenant, making it nigh on impossible for the next million vulnerable low earning UC & Benefit tenants to get anywhere again.

Great words Ian:
If Labour wanted to make life difficult for poor tenants, they could hardly have devised a better scheme. Landlords will lose and tenants will lose. Rents will increase (and so will landlords’ losses and expenses) and given that there are already too few properties available to rent, homelessness will increase.... Read More

Saul, Stella, New Yorkie,
All say it how it is:
Governments of both colours have turned thousands of caring, considerate, generous landlords into hard-nosed business owners.
It used to be
Service your boiler once a year
Tell me when something wrong.
And it worked. Result cheaper rents happier tenant.

Landlords Landladies do more now for the Govt Council Tax people Letting Agents Legionella's etc. in fact 20 times more than the tenant asks for. And it's costing tenants in higher rents & our Mental Health, so much so we packing up.

I've decided I'm gonna' try & sell most of mine next 2 years, to Landlords Landladies to hopefully keep em in.... Read More