New BBC1 Programme about Landlords

avoid!

The recent landlord/tenant programmes I've watched in the past couple of years have mostly been very careful not to demonise any group, but to showcase a balance of stories, which I've appreciated.

I'm a little confused though as to how this premise would work. How can you experience life as your own tenant? If you report a disrepair to yourself and then experience waiting for yourself to get around to fixing it??? Surely you can't operate both ends of the relationship...I'm obviously missing something.

Presumably they will give you a set income level to manage with. I'd like to hear a little more detail on the premise, out of curiosity, as to how they will make this interesting and how long the swap would go on for - a week, a month, or longer? I'm struggling to see how this would provide any real insights if they aren't looking at extreme cases. I mean let's face it, extreme cases provide the only interesting viewing. A bunch of ordinary folk living in a house which they pay rent for rather than a mortgage doesn't sound very interesting, just like ordinary life.

I think it would have to be about living in a house of sharers - so there would then be issues like the washing up hasn't been done. And that's more about the ups and downs of communal living regardless of who owns the property - and are the kind of issues which crop up in all households. If it wasn't a house of sharers would it then be that the landlord has to move in with their tenant's partner and/or children, in which case it would be like wife/husband swap - and, again, it would be about relationships that are nothing to do with the landlord. If the landlord moved in as the sole tenant it would be like watching paint dry. Maybe it can be done, but I can't quite see how it would work. Also, us landlords are so hounded and scapegoated that many would be unwilling to do it in case the slightest thing they said or did was misinterpreted and jumped on to reinforce the constant anti-landlord messages we receive in the media.

I'd prefer a completely different programme - one which looks at how housing 'charities' pay their staff exorbitant wages, and spend the vast majority of their time advocating against landlords and campaigning against landlords, whilst providing no housing themselves. The programme could argue that if they had a housing arm themselves and were reliant on the tenants paying the rent in order to receive their own wages, they wouldn't have such tunnel vision - including supporting rogue tenants against decent landlords - and would see things from the landlords' point of view for a change. So, instead of landlords having to be the ones who supposedly are charged with experiencing empathy for their poor tenants, we would have the housing charities seeing the light and realising how destructive their approach has been to date. Even if they don't realise it, the public would and they would stop donating to housing charities which don't provide housing but instead devote the vast majority of their resources to undermining those of us who do.

robb has now debunked to jrf--founder would not approve of current jrf

I'm already a tenant, as well as being a landlord, and I've also had to live on benefit level income while being a landlord, and like the comments already made, this is just ordinary life, it is nothing that would appeal to a TV audience. Like Rosalind and Kate, I cannot see how this would work or provide any sort of enlightenment or entertainment. It also (again) seems to be based on the "fairytale" media portrayal that all landlords are very wealthy and lead different lives to those of tenants (and are thus "detached" from the reality of living as a tenant), this stereotype is so, so, very wrong!!!!!

I would say not to get involved. I don't trust the BBC, think they back the government agenda and look at it, it is state owned however you want to say it is independent. It is not. It is funded by tax and controlled by the government.

Also they want to show the 'gap' between landlords and tenants, why not make more programmes on the gap between bankers and rest of the nation how their main role is to make billions from money lending and evicting property owners if they don't pay instead of brining another programme on buy to let? All we are doing is offering housing. They should leave us alone and stop stirring up more issues.

Reply to the comment left by "Robert Mellors" at "11/05/2017 - 10:30":

Yes, I agree the premise is wrong and the implication is that landlords don't understand what life is like for tenants - so it is anti-landlord even before anything else is started.

On the other hand, very important issues would make a far better and unique programme - like how Shelter has an annual income in excess of £50 million, I believe - and spends not one penny on providing a bed for the night for someone and how other charities also do this and how CAB will provide advice to anyone except landlords and so on. Making 'charities' like this accountable by asking difficult questions and not following the PC anti-landlord line would be providing an important service to the British public.

I totally agree with all comments posted here, especially the first - AVOID!
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Reply to the comment left by "Alan Wong" at "11/05/2017 - 10:44":

Yes, there was supposed to be pro-landlord piece appearing on the Victoria Derbyshire show. I must have blinked as I missed it. Anyone know if it happened?

We all see more and more programmes trying to bring landlords at the forefront of the tv screen not to praise the contribution we make but to bring us down. If we look at all the programmes, they have subtle messages and plays on the nations sub conscious mind to frame us as bad people and support the current anti-landlord agenda. At best the small amount of the programmes will scare landlords or to be housing providers to get involved in the sector.

The gap between the bankers and rest of the nation and world is the real 'gap' needs to be addressed and they should put more tv air time on bringing that to the forefront.

But that will never happen as bankers are the one who backs (controls) the government, and BBC is a medium to support the bankers and government agenda.

Anyway, this is heavy stuff if we look into how the country and world is controlled. So guess a lot of people is aware of this and also a lot of people don't know all about this.

And when a tv programme comes up like this, sad some people can't see the real agenda but think the BBC is there is bring a 'neutral' programme. Definitely not neutral when it wants to talk about the 'gap' between people. Straight away it is stirring up more jealousy, fight, resentment...

There are plenty of other more severe 'gaps' needing addressed. Start from the very top the bankers getting millions in bonuses, made about 10 billion pounds per banker before the 2008 crash and still retains those bonuses...