Tenants versus landlords: Where is the middle ground?
In the business of housing there are many many players and many more motivations. Tenants, landlords, letting agents, proptechs, councils, housing associations, government; each fulfills a purpose and has disparate goals. With an abundance of customers and providers, why is the housing industry so wrought with problems? I believe that the fundamental drivers of housing problems include low consumer power, a lack of two-way transparency and the existence of a middle man whose goals are mainly financial.
Tenants face many challenges when renting property
37% of the UK population live in homes they do not own. Housing consumers, or tenants as they are more commonly known, have such limited power. Housing is a necessity therefore tenants very rarely have a choice over their circumstances. Unlike other purchasing transactions such as buying the latest iPhone, they are unable to simply walk away if the terms are unsatisfactory. If you are not one of the 63% fortunate enough to be occupying homes they own, then at some point, you may have to rent a place to live.
The most obvious hurdle to renting property is affordability especially in the London and South East area. However, this is by no means the only challenge tenants face. There are many more problems in the journey to securing a roof over your head. Avoiding scams, finding a suitable room mate, finding a property landlord that values mutual respect are just a few. Once you have a place to live, there are several more things to consider - creating a home with limited decorating scope, communicating repairs, navigating rent increases and changing circumstances.
Most landlords do not deserve the bad press
Landlords. These are a polarizing group of people, hate them or love them they provide a service. Contrary to popular belief not all landlords get the majority of their income from their rental properties. The vast majority of them have jobs and think of their portfolios as either additional income or a retirement fund, others fall into the accidental landlord camp (i.e. they did not set out to become landlords). These days landlords face a lot of criticism some deserved and others not so much. Media coverage around rogue landlords, boycotts, discrimination and rent increases definitely paints a shocking picture of landlords. It is clear to me that these are the minority of cases and some of the issues faced during a tenancy are not necessarily the landlords doing.
Letting agents. middle men with huge conflict of interest
Over a third of landlords use letting agents. I do not want to spend too much time on these infamous group - it is likely that you have a tale of your own to tell. I will say that indirect communication almost always leads to challenges and misunderstandings. However in the case of the letting agents they have a lot to gain by increasing costs for both landlords and tenants.
Tenants as customers and landlords as service providers
Putting letting agents aside, landlords have a part to play in ensuring the tenant experience is a pleasant one. Many landlords have lost sight of the fact that tenants are their customers and that good tenants are hard to find. A couple of years ago my husband and I were renting a nice little two bed flat. We had met the landlords, another couple who were emigrating to Australia. They were wonderful and helpful and even though they were using a letting agent they gave us their details just in case we needed anything. They seemed like nice people who wanted someone who would take care of their home. These were not the jaded landlords who did not think of their tenants as people.
Fast forward to a year later, they were moving back to the UK and had a new attitude. They gave us 30 days notice that they were taking all of the furniture in the flat and would be increasing the rent by 5.2%. There was no discussion, we couldn't reason with them. I do not think for a second they cared how we were going to come up with the money to furnish a 2 bedroom flat in 30 days. Nor did they seem abashed to simultaneously up the rent, after all, their letting agent had told them that this is the market rate.
Grow your business by creating positive customer experience and cultivating strong relationships
I've heard many landlords speak about their portfolios as a business and therefore it should be operated passively, sans feelings. Many many studies have contradicted this. Customer service and user experience is key, a high level of empathy gets you customer loyalty. Businesses that give users a superior experience tend to be the ones that flourish. Imagine your internet provider suddenly deciding that they were going to reduce your broadband speed but were also going to up their prices. You would, naturally, switch to a less ridiculous provider.
Good landlords are hard to find, good tenants even more so. Some landlords may feel like they can do whatever they like and that the tenant must simply accept it. They may find themselves left with the type of tenant that shares their values, the good ones would have moved on in search of landlords who provide a better experience.
Do you have a fantastic landlord or tenant story? Tell us about it in the comments.
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