Sometimes, when reading the tenant and consumer press, there is such hostility towards landlords, and indeed, some people seem to think we should get rid of landlords altogether.

However, landlords, some landlords, are necessary.

Why we need landlords

1 Not everyone wants to own their own home

The days of someone getting a job at 16 and then retiring from the same company some 50 or so years later with a presentation chiming clock (or something similar) are long gone.

People tend to change their jobs frequently, and this often means moving to a new location. If they know they are only going to be living there for a limited period of time, they may not want to go through the hassle of buying a house or flat.

Workers are sometimes relocated temporarily or seconded to another company or branch of their own firm. They will need somewhere to live during that time – which could only be for a few months.

Then, owning your own home comes with obligations. You need to do regular repair and upgrade work and some people may just not want the hassle of this. Living in decent rented accommodation is much easier.

2 We need rented accommodation for students

Many students live in specially built student accommodation, but not all of them. Many will rent a house for the year with friends.

It is important that there is sufficient accommodation for students. But in some areas students are now struggling to find accommodation near their university.  In some cases, this has meant that they have not been able to study at their chosen university.

3 Social housing is not always appropriate

Everyone agrees that we need more social housing after substantial numbers of properties have been lost due to the ‘right to buy’. If we get a Labour government it looks as if finally new social housing will be built.

However, social housing is not appropriate for everyone. It is primarily needed for low-income families although some social housing will no doubt be provided for needy single people.

But it is not suitable for business people wanting accommodation while they are relocated for their work though or for students.

So, landlords and a private rented sector are essential for a healthy economy.  Plus:

4. The Private Rented Sector contributes billions to the economy

A recent report has found that small and medium landlords and Wales are estimated to contribute £45 bn to the UK economy and support some 390,000 jobs.

If the private rented sector were to contract significantly, this could have serious repercussions. Some comments on the report:

Paragon Bank managing director of Mortgages Richard Rowntree

Landlords make a significant contribution to the economy and job creation directly, as this report highlights, but also through facilitating labour mobility. The PRS has the highest proportion of tenants in employment compared to other tenures and provides economic fluidity, enabling the workforce and companies to quickly adapt to changes in demand.

James Bailey, UK housing leader at PwC UK

Around 80% of the estimated 4.8 million properties in the private rented sector in England and Wales are provided by landlords with fewer than 15 properties. We estimate that this segment of the market contributes £45 billion of value to the wider economy each year. The scale of this footprint demonstrates the significance of the sector in the economy as a whole.

5. It is a way for middle and working-class people to create wealth

People often seem to assume that all or most landlords are ‘posh’ rich people. However, although this is true in some cases (such as the Duke of Westminster), in the main part, landlords tend to be ordinary people. For example

• People who have inherited a property and decide to keep it and rent it out
• Couples who both had their own property but who are now living together in one and renting out the other
• People who have bought a ‘buy to let’ property as an investment to provide for their family or for their retirement

Most of these provide decent housing and look after their tenants well. They should not be confused with the bad or criminal sector, which are discussed in this series of posts.

Just because there are bad and criminal landlords (which incidentally have been encouraged by the chronic lack of enforcement on housing standards) does not mean that ALL landlords are like this.

And finally – a message to government

It looks as if we will have a Labour government after July 4th, and they have pledged to abolish no-fault evictions and raise standards.

This is good, provided landlords are still able to recover their property for legitimate reasons and raising standards means that it is the bad and criminal landlords that are driven out, not the good landlords!

Please bear in mind that we will still need private landlords for the reasons given above, plus their contribution to the economy should not be overlooked.

Good landlords should be encouraged. If they are driven out by harsh legislation this could cause a housing crisis and could negatively affect the economy.

So please be careful and bear this in mind when drafting legislation.

The post Election 2024 – Don’t forget that we really need the Private Rented Sector! appeared first on The Landlord Law Blog.

This is a question to the blog clinic from Harry (not his real name), who is a landlord in England.

I’m trying to get my head around when a tenant falls into arrears. For example, we asked for our tenants to pay in advance on the 1st of the month, but the tenants said they can’t do the 1st as they don’t get paid till the 12th of the month. Which we agreed to. However, there’s been times when they haven’t paid on the 12th.

So my question is – when does their rent fall into arrears? If they don’t pay on the 12th of the month, do they fall into arrears for that month or is it the end of that month or the 12th of the next month?

Answer

Under the general law, rent is payable in arrears (see here for a discussion about why this is the case).

In most cases, though, rent will be payable in advance because the tenant has signed a tenancy agreement saying this.

Your tenancy agreement clause

From what you have said it looks as if this is the case with your tenancy. The rent is payable in advance on the first day of the month.

In which case (if you had not agreed otherwise), if the tenant has not paid by midnight on the 1st, on the 2nd day of the month, he will be in arrears. As the rent is payable in advance, he does not have to have lived in the property for the period of time the rent relates to.

Agreement to amend the date of payment

At the moment, though, you have agreed with your tenants that they can pay their rent on the 12th day of each month. So, if this agreement is still current, then they will be in arrears after midnight on the 12th if the rent has not been received by then.  So, from the morning of the 13th.

You don’t say though how you reached this agreement, whether it was agreed or confirmed in writing (and if so what exactly was said) or whether it was just an oral agreement (for example, in a telephone call).

Confirmation in writing

It is generally a good idea to allow tenants to pay rent on the day their salary is paid. However, my advice to landlords in this situation is that:

• You should confirm the agreement in writing, eg in a letter or email, and
• The permission should be on the basis that the tenant pays on the new date

The letter or email should be on the following lines:

• It should confirm your agreement that the rent payment date be changed from [original date] to [new date].
• It should go on to say that the agreement is conditional upon payment being made promptly by that date, and
• That if rent is not paid on time, the agreement will end, and the rent payment date will revert to [original date]
• That they should contact you if they are in financial difficulties and are not able to pay on the new date
• That the agreement will not change the tenancy period, it is simply an agreement about the date rent is payable.

This will make it crystal clear what has been agreed.

The last point is there because sometimes people think that the tenancy agreement needs to be amended and/or that the tenancy agreement term will be changed in some way by this sort of agreement.

However, this is not the case. Think of it like this

• The tenancy requires the rent to be paid one month in advance
• This agreement is just providing that the ‘advance’ period is changed from one month to [whatever your agreement provides]. In your case this is one month less 12 days.

If the tenants fail to pay on the new date

You say that sometimes your tenants fail to pay on the 12th. I think it is arguable that the agreement can be deemed to have lapsed if this happens, even if this was not set out in a letter.

So, for example, it might be a good idea to write to them saying that you are concerned that despite your agreement to change the date of payment, they have not paid and that unless they rectify this and bring payments up to date within 7 days, you will consider the agreement at an end.

If they still fail to pay, consider serving a section 8 notice.

Helping tenants to pay

Alternatively, if you are on good terms with them, you could offer to help them. We have a special kit,  the Helping Tenants in Arrears Kit, to assist landlords in this position who want to help their tenants to pay.

There is also a lot of help and guidance for Landlord Law members in our Rent Arrears Action Plan.

The post A landlord asks when a tenant is deemed to be in arrears appeared first on The Landlord Law Blog.