New partnership wants to know why private landlords won’t rent to councils

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 02/09/2024 - 11:16
Hi.

Make no mistake what the council's true intentions are. They do not intend to house genuine British citizens who are homeless. They are looking to house illegal migrants!! But they mask this fact by saying the homeless rather saying the word migrant in hope to fooling you into agreeing to get trapped in a private contract with them. Hotels are almost full with migrants now. Most of the hotels all over the country are closed to the public and are housing migrants who've come here into the country illegally via boat. They've been housing many migrants for nearly 2 years whilst waiting for their visa application to go through. These migrants are from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Yemen, Albania etc etc.

The whole crisis is self crated by incompetent councils and governments for decades now. They clearly couldn't/cant do their job and want someone else to sort it out for them and also take the hits for them on all sides.

Reply to the comment left by Knight Properties. at 03/09/2024 - 15:17
This particular tenant was ‘entitled’. Always complaining about the property, always asking for things to be changed that didn’t need to be done, upset the neighbours. Asking for discounts. It was almost as though she resented having to pay rent or perhaps somebody else at the council was winding her up about what she could ask a landlord for. As long as they paid on time and in full, were polite, didn’t complain much, looked after the property and got on with the neighbours I’d rather house ‘migrants’ than someone from the council.

Reply to the comment left by Knight Properties. at 03/09/2024 - 15:17
This particular tenant was ‘entitled’. Always complaining about the property, always asking for things to be changed that didn’t need to be done, upset the neighbours. Asking for discounts. It was almost as though she resented having to pay rent or perhaps somebody else at the council was winding her up about what she could ask a landlord for. As long as they paid on time and in full, were polite, didn’t complain much, looked after the property and got on with the neighbours I’d rather house ‘migrants’ than someone from the council.

Councils could buy some of these houses if things are that bad
We are selling our BTL which, the council could purchase if they were really that bothered about homelessness
We were selling up anyway but pushing harder to sell now especially due to the Labour governments threat of raising CGT

Reply to the comment left by Jack Jennings at 02/09/2024 - 22:53To this list I'd add that your tenants should know how to look after food properly. I once let a one-bedroom flat to a young woman from Somalia. I'm afraid it was the one time in 28 years of letting property that I've had an infestation of cockroaches. She had no idea of how to store food safely or use a refrigerator, despite my best efforts to show her or gently suggest improvements.
In addition she acquired a boyfriend, became pregnant, he was always there when I visited and had no apparent job or source of income, and I started getting reports from the neighbours about loud music at all houses, and a succession of dodgy-looking people trooping in and out with extremely short visits. I suspected drug-dealing, so what with the cockroaches and repeated blocking of the sink and shower (again, something that had never happened before or since) I gave her notice. Of course it will be much, much harder to do this when Section 21 is abolished. She moved into a housing association flat with her baby, and probably the boyfriend and a trail of consequences followed. No one at the HA contacted me for a reference or any kind of background assessment. Of course I will come across to the media and Shelter as a "heartless landlord" with this "vulnerable" tenant, but I'm not a charity, I don't have the skills to deal with this young woman's issues, and despite my best efforts, I had ultimately to protect my own interests and those of my neighbours too.

Reply to the comment left by AnthonyJames at 05/09/2024 - 06:58
But surely she was a doctor, architect or software engineer otherwise why would she be required in the U.K. ?

Put a new bathroom or kitchen in a house with higher income, working tenants, and it will probably last 20 years. Put a new bathroom or kitchen in a house with unemployed or other homeless people, and there is a good chance it will need serious repairs after 5 years.

Benefit tenants just cost so much more in maintenance. I know there are always exceptions, but when everything they get is effectively 'free', then they just don't look after stuff.

I wouldn't mind renting to councils if it was for women in need or for housing genuine English homeless people but we all know it will go to illegal immigrants who the government is importing more and more every day and that doesn't sit well with me. I'd rather rent on the private market than house illegal immigrants.

Reply to the comment left by Jessie Jones at 07/09/2024 - 07:54Jessie, even so called 'professional' tenants can be problematic. I had a couple that worked for Rolls Royce in one of my properties, their kids scribbled on the walls so they painted the walls BROWN. I had a hell of a job getting them out and when they had left they had taken every handle of every door in the house and kitchen and basically wrecked it. Also owed me 3 months rent. Could get anything as they left RR and went somewhere else. Luckily I sold the property within 2 weeks after they left to a divorcee who needed a property urgently and didn't care about the wreckage as she was going to refurbish it anyway to her taste.