Evictions soar in buy-to-let centres
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Cities that built large numbers of flats in recent years are facing a boom in evictions, according to a business which help landlords with problem tenants.
Landlord Action, a tenant eviction troubleshooting agency, said it had seen a 20 per cent rise in the number of instructions it was receiving from landlords wanting to get rid of ‘bad’ tenants in some areas.
Paul Shamplina, director of Landlord Action and a former certified bailiff and private investigator, said: ‘In city centres such as Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and London, where there is an increased supply of buy to let property, we have seen a rise, year on year, of 20 per cent in the number of landlords contacting us to help them evict their tenants due to non payment of rent’.
He added that while the numbers are on the increase, the length of time landlords are willing to give leeway to their tenants has fallen.
‘There are an increasing number of tenants losing their jobs and paying the rent is not always at the top of their priorities,’ he added. ‘Being just one month late with the rent can lead to the landlord experiencing mortgage arrears and so they are doing everything in their power to rectify the situation as soon as possible.
‘Our advice line for landlords has been overwhelmed with calls for assistance.’
Landlord Action says it has helped evict 13,000 people since it was launched in 1999 - but has taken some kind of action against roughly 2,000 people in the last year alone.
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Readers' comments (7)
Harry Lime | 07/05/2009 10:22 am
I have extremely limited sympathy for "landlords" who are playing at it, i.e one or two properties to boost their pension income or otherwise. Whilst it's absolutely their right to do so, it is precisely that sort of mentality that has fuelled the boom/bust nature of the property market. If you haven't got the means to withstand the odd "bad" tenant (which is a occupational hazard) then you shouldn't really be alandlord, in my opinion. I have friends who have let out their properties when they move in with a partner "crying" as they have to replace the boiler in their "other" property. If people want to enjoy the hoped for capital and financial rewards, they have to be prepared for the possibility things may go down as well as up......
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peter | 07/05/2009 12:52 pm
Welcome to the world of tenancy management! Remember that there are good, bad and ugly tenants.
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michaelbarratt | 07/05/2009 2:59 pm
"Pity the Downtrodden (Buy to Let) Landlord"
"Please open your hearts and your purses
To a man who is misunderstood
He gets all the kicks and the curses
Tho' he wishes you nothing but good
He wistfully begs you to show him
You think he's a friend not a louse
So remember the debt that you owe him
The landlord who lends you his house
So pity the downtrodden landlord
And his back that is burdened and bent
Respect his grey hairs
Don't ask for repairs
And don't be late with the rent.
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Joe Halewood | 07/05/2009 3:33 pm
The buy-to-let massive expansion is but one matter that fuelled the boom-bust scenario. The lack of social rented housing caused by RTB is far more a factor that demonstrates a responsible private sector is a necessity.
The odd-bad tenant being inevitable still doesnt make it right however and the simple fact remains that getting rid of bad tenants is a necessity also. Unfortunately, 'bad' tenants in social housing almost always end up in the private rented sector (intentional homeless decisions /evictions etc) and so we must expect a higher number of evictions from the private rented sector.
The vagaries of HB adminstration are also likely to be a factor as well - perenially - and the last 12 months we have had the recession or recession-like circumstances and job insecurity to add to this.
So these factors (and there are more such as ASTs) all combine to see higher evictions and should come as no surprise
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Sam | 07/05/2009 8:21 pm
I can't see any good reason for allowing the buy-to-let boom to happen. Shelter is a human need, like air, food or water, and to allow one section of the community to corner the market and hold to ransom people less fortunate than themselves has always struck me as distasteful. The notion that current private rent levels are somehow right, and that public rent levels should rise to that level is a baseless argument.
But some of the people who set out to exploit the poor think they are suffering. Whether or not there is any logic in easing their burden, they may prove a potent force at the ballot box, so we may see the suffering spread around a bit amongst those less well off - for example our "hard working families", or the general public through the HB system.
Michael's poem beautifully parodies that side of our nature which is to succour those more fortunate than ourselves. Sometimes, we are our own worst enemies.
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michaelbarratt | 08/05/2009 9:09 am
Sam
I cannot take credit for the 'poem' which is actually a folk song written and sometimes performed by 'Stan' Kelly who's forgiveness I still seek for a disasterous concert I organised in the West Midlands in the late 1950's. There is more about Stan at http://www.feniks.com/skb/
Songs For Swinging Landlords To (Topic Records TOP 60).
Traditional and contemporary "anti-rent" folk songs (voc. SK; gtr/accord/pno acc. Leon Rosselson)
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Sam | 09/05/2009 12:15 pm
Fifty year old lyrics shouldn't sound like they were written yesterday!
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