Help For Tenants – NO FEES!

I don't agree with victim-blaming on principle. Thus, if a landlord is conned I don't blame the landlord. If someone is burgled I don't blame the person who may have left a small window open. If someone is raped, I don't ask why they let that man into their house etc. etc.
But I do have an answer of sorts to the question of why we let this person is. My husband recognised her surname and it turned out he knew her mother, who had been friends with his friend's mother years ago, 'up the valleys.' He thought the mother was a nice and trustworthy person and the tenant said her mother would be guarantor but she couldn't sign until the next week as she was on holiday (of course she never then signed). The tenant also appeared to be charming and well-dressed and said all the right things. I don't blame myself for trusting someone. You get nowhere in business without trust. Is my builder stupid for doing the work on my rental house and expecting payment afterwards? Should he have insisted on payment upfront? Then, would I be stupid to have given him some money before any work was done? Trust is integral to business but unfortunately people with no scruples abuse that trust. The target of all ire should be directed at them and never at their victims.

Reply to the comment left by "Robert Mellors" at "16/12/2014 - 09:32":

Hi Rob

I will stick to my average properties and nice tenants thanks.

If I can't find a decent tenant, with a guarantor where appropriate, I think I'd rather suffer a void period or sell up.

My average rental yield based on current values is probably only around 6% but at least I get the money and very little hassle. My rental yield based on the cost for the properties I purchased many years ago is over 30% in in some cases capital appreciation over 25 years is approaching 500%.

I applaud what you do but it's not for me, I've been down South for most of my life now so I'm too much of a softy to deal with the stuff you do.

I've watched Benefits Britain on the TV and that's about as close to it as I ever want to get thanks.
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Reply to the comment left by "AA Properties Wales " at "16/12/2014 - 09:39":

Hi Kevin

It sounds to me like you have opted for a high risk high return lettings strategy. Either that or you purchased the wrong properties in the wrong area. Either way, you reap as you sow my friend so don't expect the world to bail you out when things go wrong.

We all make choices and all choices have consequences. I can never understand why people who buy cheap houses near to airports then complain about aircraft noise. I can't understand why tenants rent crappy properties and then complain that they live in a crappy property and I can't understand why people let to crappy tenants and then complain when they trash the place or don't pay.

I totally realise I'm setting myself up for a bashing here so bring it on. Call me a snob, tell me I don't live in the real world. However, remember that I came from a working class family in a crappy area of the West Midlands and that it was my CHOICE to take control of my life and my environment. There have been plenty of sacrifices along the way which many people would not choose to make for themselves. Nevertheless, I genuinely believe that for fit and healthy people our personal circumstances are a product of our own mindset, values and actions.
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Reply to the comment left by "Rosalind " at "16/12/2014 - 09:47":

Hi Rosalind

Something my wife taught me - "trust but verify" - Доверяй, но проверяй - Doveryay, no proveryay

It's an old KGB saying but it serves me well as a landlord.
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Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "16/12/2014 - 10:27":

'Nevertheless, I genuinely believe that for fit and healthy people our personal circumstances are a product of our own mindset, values and actions.'

Mark, I think you need to examine that philosophical position. It's not tenable. What about all the suffering people in the world? Did they bring it on themselves?

Reply to the comment left by "Rosalind " at "16/12/2014 - 10:38":

I am not speaking for the whole world Rosalind, I am talking about all the fit and healthy people who are lucky enough to live in an established and civilised economy such as the UK.

Those who are not fit and healthy should receive better support from the state.

Those who are fit and healthy should have greater incentives to change their lives for the better and become a productive part of the economy.
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Reply to the comment left by "Rosalind " at "16/12/2014 - 10:38":

Now turning to the rest of the world, if we all do our bit we can make a real difference.

For my part I decided to fund clean water wells in Africa, 32 so far!

My contribution will not change the world but it will change lives and save lives.
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Reply to the comment left by "Robert Mellors" at "16/12/2014 - 09:44":

"So you think landlords letting to DSS tenants should charge more so as to mitigate their risks? So do I, however, the government disagrees and won’t even pay Housing Benefit at the average market rent, let alone at a higher rent, so where does this extra rent (to mitigate risks) come from????"

It comes from letting out a property in the lowest 10th percentile at the price of the 30th percentile* in order to reflect the higher risk.

*I know it's now drifting down from the 30th percentile but I use it for the purposes of illustration.

Reply to the comment left by "Monty Bodkin" at "16/12/2014 - 11:23":

That condemns the unfortunate, the sick, the disabled, to a life living in the lowest 10th percentile of properties, and gives landlords no incentive to improve the properties or services. Most of the properties I let are probably in the lowest 20th percentile in terms of purchase price for the area, but that is down to the area, rather than the quality or size of the house itself. Also, the services I provide to residents is above and beyond what most landlords provide, but there is no financial reward for being a good landlord or for improving the quality of the properties.

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "16/12/2014 - 10:27":

Even if someone chooses a high risk letting strategy, or has made a mistake and bought the wrong property in the wrong area, that does not mean that there should be no remedy when things do go wrong. That is very different to expecting someone else to bail them out, as you put it.

I would also add that many many DSS tenants are good honest people who, for a very wide variety of reasons, may need Housing Benefit to help them pay the rent (as do many working people), so to dismiss them all as "crappy tenants" is out of order. Yes, some of them do turn out to be "crappy tenants" (and many are excellent tenants), but the crappy ones do not come for the viewing with "crappy tenant" tattooed on their foreheads (other things perhaps!!!!) so it is not always easy to sort the good ones from the bad ones. Some of my best tenants are ones which look the roughest, and some of the crappy ones have looked like perfect tenants, and yes I know you will say "get references" or get them referenced, but when it comes to DSS tenants, such references are virtually worthless.