New BBC1 Programme about Landlords

I get the programme entirely.

If you haven't watched Rich House Poor house, very good. The well off man swaps with the poor man & opens each others eyes up.

The Landlord one would make good viewing.
But for saying Landlord may wish to make improvements to property in my experience anyway, is a bit daft.
As all my houses have UPVC, new combi boilers, new kitchens etc. And then a lot of tenants come in & wreck this good work I've done.

So yes, we'd live there & think yeah, like to do this & that 'cause that's how I'd like to live, but what's the point if tenant gonna' wreck it?

Reply to the comment left by "Mick Roberts" at "12/05/2017 - 07:56":

Well said Mick.

I also understand the idea behind the programme, but it works on the false and misleading premise that landlords are wealthy and live a luxury lifestyle, and do not understand what it is like to live in a rented property (i.e. one of their own rented properties).
It fails to realise that some landlords are poor (and when the s24 tax bill arrives, may become bankrupt).
It fails to realise that some landlords already live in private rented accommodation.
It fails to realise that some landlords provide lovely homes which the tenants then wreck.
It fails to realise that some tenants CHOOSE to live in conditions which other people would not want to live in. We all have different ideas/standards of lifestyle, clutter, cleanliness, hygiene, spending priorities, etc, (e.g. I do not choose to have three big dogs in the house chewing the fixtures and fittings and pooing on all the carpets in the house, but I have had tenants who CHOOSE to live like that, - yes, some tenants choose to have dog sxxt on the carpets and leave it there).

I would happily live in any of my properties if they are provided in the good condition that they are first let in, but I would not want to move into the same property after the tenant has spent 6 months letting it get filthy and wrecking it. (This is not all my tenants, some do take care of the property, but filth and damage does happen a lot in many properties).

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "12/05/2017 - 07:46":

Well done, Mark. The more she explains it the bigger the hole she digs. The whole premise is that our tenants have an awful life, our houses need improving and if only we were in their shoes for a few days, we'd see it. If, on the other hand, at the end of the process we don't see it, then we're little shits. Either way we're little shits.

Also, personally, I don't need to go backwards and live on a tight budget. I'm fully capable of doing that at any point, having been brought up on benefits, been a student with no family money behind me and worked for pretty low pay for years. I am still very careful with my money because of my background so could handle this easily. If I want to live in a cheaper house for a week I can swap with my mum. My house is bigger and more expensive than hers but hers is lovely and cosy because of being smaller and it's warmer in the winter. If it were sold today it would probably fetch £80,000. Would that be 'roughing it' enough for the BBC?

Many of us were brought up in houses where we huddled around a fire, because there was no central heating and I don't think double glazing had been invented. I was made fun of in school when someone mentioned they showered every day and I said I had a bath once a week. Big deal. Whatever 'sufferings' many people are assumed to have today are nothing compared to what many of us went through and it didn't kill us. OMG there might be someone living in a house where the double glazing is more than 10 years old. Shoot me.

What I just don't understand is why anybody would choose to spend a week in another persons home, living on their budget, unless the home was nicer and the budget was bigger than their own.

Landlords tend to be the type of people who want better their lives. If they wanted to experience an inferior lifestyle why would they choose to do so on a reality TV programme unless they had an ulterior motive?

That doesn't just apply to landlords of course, it applies to pretty much any human being.
.

Well said, Mick and Robert. In fact I have seen one of the Rich house, poor house programmes and found it to be very irresponsible. How must it feel for the poorer family to live in relative luxury on a much bigger budget for a week and then have to go back? It might lead some to work harder or smarter and aspire to something similar, but it must be very demoralising for others and could be traumatic for the children - it's like rubbing their faces in their relative lack of success in the world. If I had had to swap with a boy i knew in school who had a swimming pool and games room in his large house in a posh area and then go back to my scruffy old council house I think that could have had a very bad psychological effect on me. I wonder what assessment the BBC has made of this? Whatever assessment they have made (I expect it hasn't crossed their minds to do one), they are playing games with people's lives.

Reply to the comment left by "Dr Rosalind Beck" at "12/05/2017 - 08:25":

If they are going to shoot you for having double glazing over 10 years old, imagine what they will do if you still have single glazing!!!!!! - And yet we have all (well almost all) lived in properties with single glazing (or no central heating, etc) and that has not created a health hazard or meant that our homes were slums. The best stately homes in the country usually have single glazing, so would fail any Health and Safety (HHSRS) assessment.

Reply to the comment left by "Robert Mellors" at "12/05/2017 - 08:33":

double glazing causes significant damp problems--it has advantages as well but ventilation is the problem

Yep mr Mellors,
Landlords are increasingly forced to upgrade standards - for tenants who won't maintain the house at that level - and who certainly won't - in most cases - pay more rent in line with the upgrade!

Clearly tenants who abuse their accommodation, with nuisance, lack of venting, scratching furniture, ruining flooring, smoking, piling up rubbish, breaking white goods and then complaining far outnumber abusive landlords - who have to grovel for months to get them out through legal means.

The latest email from Grace ...

Hi Mark,

Really enjoyed chatting with you yesterday.
It’s a series looking at the rental market in the UK today, so that is why we are featuring landlords and tenants.
If you would like to have another chat on the phone at some point then myself or my producer Emma are more than happy to call you.
All the best,
Grace

and my reply ...

Dear Grace

You are completely missing the points raised by myself and all the landlords who have taken the trouble to comment on the Property118 forum.

The only landlords you will attract are people with a big ego to feed or an ulterior motive.

Your airtime would be far better spent on getting to the bottom of why so many tenants are going to become homeless as a result of Government policy to dampen enthusiasm to invest into the provision of quality rental housing.

Not everybody is in a position to buy a home and it doesn’t suit many peoples lifestyles these days. If buying isn’t viable they need to rent but Government policy is all set to restrict supply and that will drive up both prices and homelessness. Private housing providers are being made scape-goats for this and a TV program which focuses on the lifestyles of landlords and tenants as opposed to the route causes of the housing problem serves no practical purpose.

I have made my decision, which is to encourage landlords to have nothing to do with the proposed BBC programming.

All the best

Regards

Mark Alexander

Founder of Property118 Action Group “fighting for landlords”
.

Well,well,well feathers are flying!. Grace if you would like to see a landlord live in their properties then look no further. I stay in my two large student HMO's two weeks each one, every year and have done so for forty years while I organise the change over of tenancies. I confess I don't go out of my way to live on a students budget but that's mainly because I'm spending big bucks to get the property looking as good as it did at the start of the last tenancy.

I do often find things I can improve while I'm staying there or solve problems which take a bit of time and looking to work out, but certainly not enough to make any contribution to an informative housing program

There are so many housing issues you could deal with if the BBC wants to make a genuine contribution to the housing debate, but I guess you only want to make entertainment and putting landlords under the spotlight is easy prey.