NLA ripped apart by Guardian readers

David Salsbury the chairman of the NLA has made an attempt of defending the virtues of landlords to a bunch of Guardian readers today.

He stepped into the lions den, following on from recent criticism of landlords for preventing the first time buyer brigade from joining the property party.

Unfortunately, even though he tried putting over some valid points he decided to miss out certain truths.

He paints an unbelievable image of philanthropic landlords wanting to provide housing for the masses, and lets be honest, there are not many landlords who fit that mold, he is then understandably ripped apart in the Comments area.

Here's a few points he could of added to make a more honest picture -

• Landlords are here to try and make money from renting out property.
• They are a small part of an economic mechanism constructed by past Governments. If the electorate is not happy with the existence of a free market economy they should vote for a different Government, unfortunately all the major political parties sign up for the existing economic mechanism.
• Most landlords are fair and decent people, but some of them are not.
• The private rental sector is incredibly open and competitive market place with literally thousands of individual landlords/companies competing for a tenants business, unlike most industries.
  
• Many landlords will struggle to make any return over the coming years as interest rates increase, and may find that they would of been far better investing in another investment class. Many landlords are struggling with cashflow and are at risk of losing everything over the coming years.
• But just to make it clear, a landlords aim is to make money from renting property.

Thanks for trying to defend us David but we live in a transparent world that requires complete honesty to stop us from getting ripped apart.

Can I just say I have every sympathy with those priced out of the housing market, and I would happily join them in protesting against the poor regulation of the property market over the past 10 years that has allowed this to happen.

Landlords are a product of an environment curated by those in power and those that can't see that often have their vision clouded by a green mist.

Read David getting ripped apart by the lions

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The first looks at the legal obligations of renting out property and the second deals with non paying and removal of tenants.

The seminars are scheduled to last an 1 and a half hours and cost a very reasonable £15.

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TDS secret contracts remain shrouded in mystery - why?

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) was introduced with a fanfare by the government in 2007 as a way of protecting tenants deposit against the perceived scourge of dishonest landlords with holding a tenants deposit a the end of a tenancy.

Three approved government providers were appointed. However, the basis of their appointment and the contracts between the government and the providers has always been a mystery to those in the letting industry. Why were they chosen? What basis was their appointments made?

Grant Shapps the shadow housing Minister recently tried to get to the bottom of things by requesting that copies of the contracts be placed on public deposit. However, the governments representative Ian Austin MP refused citing the commercial sensitivity of the information.

What are they trying to hide? We can only speculate.

The full exchange went as follows:

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 March on tenancy deposit schemes, if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract between his Department and each tenancy deposit scheme provider.

Ian Austin: The contracts between Communities and Local Government and the tenancy deposit protection scheme providers contain commercially confidential information. I am therefore unable to place copies in the Library.

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 March on tenancy deposit schemes, what mechanisms are in place to ensure the financial viability of tenancy deposit schemes.

Ian Austin: The contracts under which the tenancy deposit schemes operate are designed to ensure that they continue to be financially viable. Those contracts are commercially sensitive. But I can confirm that the mechanisms which they contain in order to safeguard financial viability include restrictions on investments and agreed method statements based on the schemes’ initial business planning assumptions. All these measures are kept under close review.

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 March on tenancy deposit schemes, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the self-financing aspect of the business models of the private companies under contract to his Department.

Ian Austin: We closely monitor the three tenancy deposit scheme providers with contracts with Communities and Local Government and hold regular contract governance meetings with them. We are satisfied that their business models are adequate to facilitate the ongoing financing of their schemes.

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4 million Britains may return home

Another factor for future property prices and rental demand -

Almost four million Brits living abroad are planning a mass return to home shores after seeing their savings and income stripped by the plunging values of the pound and their property.

Read more in ThisisMoney

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The taxman is coming after landlords

The taxman is targeting holiday-home owners and buy-to-let landlords to boost Treasury coffers as receipts fall with the rise in unemployment, accountants say.

The taxman is particularly interested in tracking down unpaid capital gains tax on sold properties - be scared!

Read full Times article

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Boom in student numbers over - student lettings to be impacted

The inevitable has started. The first real cut in University budgets was announced today. Under Labour university budgets have doubled from £6 billion to £12 billion.

This is the start of things to come. Student numbers will inevitably fall.

This is not good news for student landlords who have benefited from rising numbers and increasing student rents.

For the rest of us. Be prepared for the guys serving your cappuccino or latte in the morning being slightly less qualified.

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