Ben Reeve Lewis gives a personal contribution to the section 21 debate
I’ve been reading Tessa’s series on s21 with interest.
There really are a number of angles to consider and I thought I would put a very personal one but as a private tenant myself, rather than as a TRO for once.
Lets set the scene
Renting is not of my choice. I was a homeowner who went through a relationship breakdown and found myself sharing a flat in Hackney with a friend, in the style of Men Behaving Badly, complete with empty beer cans and take-away cartons littering the floor.
Then I got together with my partner. She owns a 2 up 2 down with her mum but who wants to live with their parents at our age? Plus the house is too small for us all, so renting it had to be.
We procured a furnished flat through friends in a letting agency, who guaranteed us that whilst we were being given a 12 month AST with a 6-month break clause the landlord, who was a charity worker in New Zealand, would not be returning to the UK for at least 2 years.
So we happily set up our first home, shopped in IKEA, bought flowers, all the usual and then 4 months later the landlord returned.
No happy ending…..
He sent an email saying what great tenants we were but that he was back now and served us with s21 so he could move in himself.
Not only were we gutted, having just started to put down roots, but we also had to find new accommodation, which cost us around £3,000 taking into account everything from Van hire, new furniture for the now unfurnished property, not to mention the stress of the whole thing.
We were further gutted to see that he didn’t actually move in at all but put the property up for sale, to take advantage of a ‘Buoyant market’.
The only satisfaction we received was watching him consistently lowering the asking price over the subsequent months and when compared to what Land Registry recorded as the price he bought it for he ended up making only £4,000, slightly more than it cost us to relocate.
We allowed ourselves a smug, wry smile, as would anyone.
Onwards and upwards into a new home
The new home, where we currently live, was rented through a reputable high street chain.
One year after moving in we received a cheery letter from the agents informing us that it was time to renew the tenancy, at a cost of £140 and that if we did not want to renew that would be absolutely no problem for them and they would arrange to serve us with a section 21.
History repeating itself?…..
Now bear in mind, I’m a TRO. I deal with rogue landlords and agents for a living and I would be a poor TRO if I hadn’t done my research into our landlord. Whilst we have never met, I know their home address, their work address and all their contact details.
So knowing how this game works I didn’t respond to the agent but instead emailed the landlord asking why they wanted us to leave.
They replied:-
“We don’t”.
It was just the agent’s way of eyeing up the possibility of a new finders fee.
A week later, we got another letter from the agents saying “The landlord wants to raise the rent by £100 per month”, to which I responded that I was not prepared to pay that but would go to an extra £40.
They said they would run this by the landlord and get back to me. I knew they had no intention of haggling with the landlord on my behalf and a couple of days later we got a new letter saying the landlord would not go below £80.
I emailed the landlord asking him why they wanted an £80 increase.
They replied:-
“We don’t”.
We once went a month without a washing machine because the agents kept coming up with a range of excuses until I went into angry TRO “Do you know who I am?” mode, at which point they fessed up that they could not get a machine bought and installed by their contractor for under £500 and the landlord would only go to £400.
So we went online, found a machine and fitting for £300 and again emailed the landlord directly, who was more than happy for us to buy and deduct from the rent.
On the three or four occasions we have reported a repair the agents have written the same letters, setting a date and time for the job to be done and paragraph saying if we can’t be there its not a problem as they have a set of management keys and will just let themselves in.
Except….
Of course, they can’t. I changed the locks on day one but it’s the cheerful presumption that as tenants we don’t count and that permission to enter our home is not required.
Do you see a pattern here?
Even someone who has been prosecuting rogue landlords for 29 years can’t protect themselves from insecurity and endless onslaughts from agents trying to increase their income by any means necessary.
Luckily I earn enough not to have to resort to the kinds of dodgy agents I deal with all day and my extra knowledge of housing law and the rental market means I am not a good person to pick a fight with. But the vicissitudes of law means that everything we have been subjected to has been entirely legal.
The system screws us because we are tenants.
The loss of the previous home and the attacks by the agent at our current home leave us worn out.
Living with the reality
We no longer even look on our place as our home.
Every day we expect a letter or email serving a section 21, because that’s how it works. We’ve been there.
We got rid of all the pot plants in the back garden because we don’t feel we can invest in it and we haven’t redecorated since we moved in for the same reason.
I can’t even remember the last time we went to IKEA to buy some tea lights.
There are no pictures on the wall, lest we lose our deposit, no investment in the flat as a home, it is merely a “Dwelling House’, a legal concept described perfectly by Lord Millett in the case of Uratemp Ventures Ltd v. Collins (2001) as:-
“The place where an occupier lives and to which he returns”
We detest living in the PRS, despite the fact that we have never met our landlords and have no issues with them personally.
It’s the whole miserable, sorry existence of being a tenant living under the sword of Damocles of s21 and letting agents treating you like an inconvenience.
And we are the lucky ones. Middle-income earners who don’t get pushed around, unlike my clients at Safer Renting.
God only knows what life is like for them. Its no wonder so many of them report feeling suicidal and trapped.
Oh Ben….
Tenants on Facebook talk constantly of getting that eviction threat if they don’t renew to fix again. Regularly coupled with a threat of rent increase, of course. I often reply to tell them that “It’s very likely the landlord doesn’t know what the agent is doing here – are you able to speak with the landlord at all?” Or I urge them to call the agent’s bluff – if they’re feeling bold. Is that agent really going to evict you for not fixing another term? They’d have to even tell the landlord how it got to that point first.
Ending section 21 and removing the tool of blackmail it has become can’t come soon enough !!
That alone has always been a reason to end it.
That we have agents getting away with these extortion attempts, well.. It’s reprehensible. They are no better than gangsters.
Thanks for writing this Ben. And sorry to hear about your own struggles.
Seeing the renewal amount, I suspect we’ve had the same large SE London, corporate agent.
I wonder if you’ve tried a FOI request? All sorts of interesting stuff fell out, some of which I’ve gone to the ombudsman with.
FOI doesn’t apply to the private sector
I am sorely tempted to ask my landlord whether he was charged a tenant renewal fee as well as I was because I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the agency I’m forced to deal with hadn’t acted outside the parameters of the law and charged us both. There was no mention of future renewal fees in my original contract either which I took issue with, but predictably got nowhere with S.21 forever in the shadows.
The new legislation can’t be enacted soon enough. For far too long, the scales of justice have been weighted massively against the tenant. Whilst I appreciate there is a need for protection for landlords, it needs to be proportionate and above all else, fair.
Amanda,
With regards to the renewal fee, there’s a couple of angles:
1. The agent must display a schedule of fees in their office and on their website.
2. Whichever redress scheme your agent belongs to will have published guidance stating that your agent must inform you advance of any renewal fees.
With regards to number one – they should also display fees that apply to their landlord clients. So you should be able to see very easily if both of you have been charged. If you can’t see it, then report your agent to Trading Standards. You may be able to do this anonymously, I don’t know.
With regards to number 2.. I understand that you don’t want to kick up a fuss, but if you did… lodging a complaint should eventually get you a refund. You’ll have to go through your agent’s complaints process first (which, again, should be published on their website at the least).
Were the landlords not remotely bothered that their agents were acting against their interests?
RE: RentRebel and “calling the bluff”. That’s good advice, because that’s all it is, a bluff. Unless this is a rent to rent arrangement, the agent has no ability to enter into eviction proceedings as far as I’m aware.
@Ikram You are right. Agents always act for the principal (landlord) and if they err from what the landlord wants they are breaching their fiduciary duty of care but what gave me the edge was that I know this stuff and went directly to the landlords, ignoring the agents but the landlords want an easy life, so did not take their agents to task.
The other issues you raise with redress schemes and fees displayed in offices is only a theoretical issue in reality. They never comply but enforcement is down to trading standards, not housing enforcement officer and not only are there less TS officers than housing enforcement in local authorities, they also have a broader remit and doorstep crime, underage sales, illicit tobacco and counterfeit alcohol present bigger problems.
Prosecution of agents needs to be transferred over to housing enforcement, which is better placed to tackle the problem.
Even the Tenant Fees Act, effective 1st June will be down to trading standards, so it aint gonna happen.
@Amanda, agents routinely charge both landlord and tenants for renewals, earning double fees, which is one of the reasons the Tenant fees Act is being brought in but they wont get enforced because the government stipulates that enforcement will be down to trading standards (see comment above)
There is a certain amount of scope for unitary authorities to designate powers to different officers but there is still a shortage of all enforcement types because of austerity cuts.
What is the point of a shiny new law if there is nobody to enforce it and restructions on funding to employ the people to do so? Not to mention the fact that few councils can recruit because old hands see the writing on the wall and are getting out of this pointless game?
All the plans I have seen for the abolition of S21 have stated that the LL will still be able to get the property back if he wants to sell it or move into it so I don’t see how it would have helped you Ben or the many other people who are evicted so the LL can cash in on rising house prices.
I think a better solution would be to use the planning system ie planning permission would be needed before a property could be let. It would require two types – in simple terms:-
a) Where the person has lived in the property before and wants to let it while say working away.
b) Where the property is a buy to let – reversion to private residence status would not be easy or automatic.
People in type a would still not have security but at least they would know that before signing up. The same system could be used to address many of the other common problems with the rental sector.
Ben, saddened but not entirely surprised to hear about your experiences. There are a lot of despicable people out there and unfortunately some of them are agents, some are landlords and some are tenants.
We, my wife and I, became accidental landlords when I was posted overseas. We had the same problems many landlords have with managing agents, not actually managing, just taking a chunk of the rent. Worst still, on our return we found the tenants had been treated badly and we had, like your experience, had tenants pushed into moving out so the agent could get another fee from us and the new tenant. They also changed the energy company to Spark Energy, who paid the agent a fee for doing this but the tenant was paying an extortionate charge for their energy.
I could go on about the bad practices of both Landlords and Agents. We drafted our own tenancy agreement, using the Governments model agreement and now manage our rental properties ourselves. Every tenant receives a response to any issue raised within a day or two and we have not, so far, increase the rent for any of our tenants. We don’t enter our tenants homes without their permission and do our best to maintain the properties in good order. But as you know this is just the minimum required of a Landlord.
There will always be bad people looking to find an angle and ill informed people who don’t even realise they are doing wrong. Proper enforcement of existing law should be the first step, more draconian laws will only drive away the good landlords, reduce availability and leave the market (tenants) at the mercy of the bad landlords and bad agents, who don’t care.
There’s certainly a pattern here- only renting from amateur landlords.
Could it be that pro landlords do a quick name search on a unique name and then run a mile?
Very unfair admittedly, but if you’re potentially going to have to go into the boxing ring with rules heavily favouring your opponent, you don’t knowingly select Tyson Fury for a tenant.
We are told that section 21 must be abolished to allow tenants security of tenure. But you second example was a tenant being offered exactly that. They were unwilling to pay the fee. So tenants value security of tenure less than £140 hardly seems the most pressing issue of the day.
That sort of fee will be a Prohibited Payment from 1 June.
No Lewis, what I value more than security or £140 is not getting shafted with a threat of eviction by a bunch of bullying ar*eholes without telling them where to stick it. Its what people often called pride, dignity and self respect
Even before S21 was introduce LLs could get back a property to use as their own home. It isground 1 under S8 and existed long before S8. The alternative is having people leave properties empty whilst they work abroad which benefits no one.
Using a “reputable high street chain” was probably not the best option. Employees are probably not as concenred with the chains reputation as with metting their targets and earning Of course as a tenant you don’t have a real choice. As a LL I choose established indepenant LAs and haven’t had any issue with renewal fees. I just let the tenancies roll over. Last month one passed 5 years, I deal directly with the owners of the businesses for whom the business reputation is personal,
Stuff like renewal fees and threatening to raise the rent without speaking to me first would end up with my looking for a new LA. However I can understand how a LL might let it slide. One of my sisters lets her former home and lets her agents do this. But shw works long hours (for a local authority). Her agents charge renewal fees to her and her tenant and don’t consult her about rent rises.
Yes Peter, choosing a letting agent is a really important process, just as important as choosing a tenant.
High Street respectability is no guarantee. My agents, who sponsor local schools and all the usual nonsense have been prosecuted twice by an Essex council for running unlicensed HMOs. Foxtons, the London hipster’s favourite gentrification experts, have been fined several times for a range of breaches.
I have dealt with dodgy agents who employed decent individuals and reputable companies who had crooks among their ranks.Last year I worked with a London council after the agents themselves call the council in when one of their employees had been using them to run a covert agency of their own, netting £300,000.
And I agree, often the best agents are the small independents with a personal stake and reputation. Daisy Lets near me in South East London and Apple down in Taunton are brilliant examples but you have to be even more careful in choosing as many independents are crooks as well.
If I was a landlord choosing an agents I would pay an investigator to run checks on the individuals concerned first. It may cost a couple of hundred quid but could save thousands later on. Whenever I get a referall on an agent I spend hours in the internet, checking status, companies house, facebook, you name it
This is why we don’t use agents for our properties. They need to find ways of bringing in the bacon from both tenants and landlords alike. I personally also resent being held over a barrel and having my pockets picked. It truly winds me up.
What I would say though is that home ownership is a risk and a responsibility. It costs big money in deposits, interest, repairs & maintenance. On the upside it offers security for your family and hopefully capital growth. Renting offers flexibility, mobility, freedom from repair and maintenance costs on the upside & on the downside it doesn’t offer the same certainty & security of tenure as home ownership.
Mostly landlords don’t want empty properties, they cost thousands, so a GOOD tenant is as secure as it’s possible to be unless the landlord wants to sell, redevelop or move back in. Yes they may face agency crap, but surely that’s more about the lack of agency regulation than it is about section 21?.
My point is that you can’t have your cake and eat it. You want the freedom to give one month’s notice and leave the property for pastures new, which will cost the landlord thousands in refurb costs, agency fees, lost rent etc, but you aren’t prepared to accept the risk of being on the receiving end of having the cost & inconvenience of moving when it wasn’t your choice on the infrequent occasions that this happens to long term renters.
If you are in favour of removing that freedom and flexibility then it should apply to tenants as well as landlords. How would tenants feel about committing to rent a property without any flexibility to move unless they could prove grounds against their landlord in court? I suspect this would not be acceptable. Yet if you buy a house you can’t just give notice and move in a month. Not only does it sometimes take many months but there are significant costs incurred. Renters don’t have these costs or time delays. They can’t expect to have all the benefits of renting but none of the risks.
Landlords can sometimes find that due to tenants personal circumstances they have a run of 6 month let’s with a month or more’s void in between. Their tenants split up, their tenants find a property to buy, their tenants change jobs, it’s a risk of renting out a property, tenants also have a certain amount of risk and uncertainty as you pointed out Ben. That’s life. Nobody gets it all their own way. In all my years of letting property I’ve never yet issues a s21 except for serious rent arrears. I don’t think that I’m unusual in that.
Bear in mind also that post 1st June 2019, if an agent charges unauthorised fees to a tenant then no s21 can be served until the fees are returned.
The last thing you want is a dodgy agent lining their pockets with unauthorised fees and there will be thousands of these, and as a result screwing the landlord’s chance of evicting a tenant
Having read your article, I’m minded to hope the imminent fees ban will push out many of these agents that seem to have become chancers in the market.
I’m a professional landlord, with a relatively small portfolio compared to many of my counterparts. I’ve created a way of ethical working that’s been very good to me & brought me some fabulous tenants that genuinely call their dwelling a home.
I only provide 6 months AST’s but on the understanding that after the 6 months is up, it’s a rolling contract that, provided we work well together, I see no reason to end. I need S21 or similar as a fallback because our court system is so badly set up & overloaded.
I’d welcome a better way if government could actually get a grip on the reality of the private rental sector. The fact is, that to date, it’s only ever fixed the cracks, ignoring the bigger picture. I’d like to hope that landlords will now see that using a fixed fee web based letting portal, that forces a landlord to do their own viewings, at fees genuinely as low as £49 will bring the good landlords out into the open.
Self managing isn’t hard if a landlord presents a good quality property to market & then meets prospective tenants. And, it saves us money up front & a healthy percentage each month. So we get a tenant we judge we can work with, at greatly reduced cost. Tenants get to meet the landlord & have a face to face chat before renting. What’s not to like about this?
All this means that those good, long term aiming landlords will only need S21 on a rare occasion to solve a problem. So perhaps, if our politicians actually understand the sector well enough to stop financially persecuting landlords, and promote good direct relationships between tenant & landlord, then we might just not have as much need for whatever S21 becomes.
There’s always going to be bad tenants & bad landlords, but let’s find way of putting the good ones together. That’s my model & im sticking to it.
My advice to renters? If you can, rent from a landlord that does their own viewings. There are many web portals around that only offer this type of model, seek them out, use them, it’s going to increase your chances of getting the landlord you want, one that isn’t shrouded by an agency.
Landlords self-managing do need to be very careful about compliance with all the legal rules though. But that is what my Landlord Law service is there for! https://landlordlawservices.co.uk/what-is-your-problem/
Phil whilst there are many chancers, blaggers and crooks among letting agents i’m not talking about them here for once. My agents are your reputable high street chain merchants.
As I point in my piece, its the renting system that is imbalanced, which you evidently agree with.
A well know landlord and blogger of my acquaintance and genuine friendship, said to me once that the interests of landlords and agents are diametrically opposed. Where a landlord wants a stable, long term tenant, an agent makes no money out of this and seeks churn to keep their business model alive. Hence my treatment at the hands of my lot when the landlords were not rapport with what they were promoting