What rights do tenants want?

silvercar

carolt wrote:

Do you know anyone who rents privately who claims that this is what they plan to do for the rest of their life?

I don't - I've certainly never met anyone who did. Why would anyone want that level of insecurity and cost for life? If you genuinely couldn't afford anything, such that homelessness was the only alternative, the state would provide; you'd have to be mad to pay private rents if you were that poor.

There is a shortage of council/HA housing which is why some tenants find the state doesn't provide and they have to rely on the private sector. In my area there are many people renting in the private sector who, by your definition, should be in social housing.

Why is the LHA level higher than the local HA rental level? Because there is a shortage of council homes and these people have to rent privately.

carolt

But I'd be very surprised if any of them plan to rent privately for good (old-style tenancy agreements excepted; obviously those who started renting their places a couple of decades ago are in a fine positon; but they're a dying breed and currently not something any new or more recent tenant can hope to emulate).

Out of interest, having identified them, do you now claim to speak for them too?

Are you in that position?

I thought you were a landlord?

What about you, olly300? I take it you're a tenant, given your interest in commenting on the subject?

neas

I want to feel secure in my home. If my landlord went bankrupt and the bank repossessed i'd have 2 weeks or so to vacate or less...

This seems abit lame to me.

silvercar

Out of interest, having identified them, do you now claim to speak for them too?

Are you in that position?

So what are you saying, that you can't advise on debt unless you are in debt? that you can't speak out against racism unless you are from an ethnic minority?

But I'd be very surprised if any of them plan to rent privately for good (old-style tenancy agreements excepted; obviously those who started renting their places a couple of decades ago are in a fine positon; but they're a dying breed and currently not something any new or more recent tenant can hope to emulate).

You must realise that council waiting lists are so long that only the vunerable stand a chance of getting housed or that the council often uses private landlords to provide council housing.

I thought you were a landlord?

Yes, also a home owner and have a son who is a tenant. Your point?

My tenant would fit your catagory of "should be in social housing", but the waiting list means its not going to happen.

carolt

So what do you believe - having decided you are in a position to speak for him, apparently - that your tenant would like, re tenants' rights etc, eg the subject of this thread?

Funnily enough, yes, I do think people from an ethnic minority are probably better placed to talk about what it feels like than someone who isn't. And I'm not convinced that a lender eg a credit card or loans company, for example, would necessarily be the right person to advise on debt, either. They obviously have a vested interest - as do you re renting. Due to the fact you're a landlord.

You may be a lovely landlord - but that doesn't mean you can claim to speak on behalf of tenants and know what we actually want. Or that your vested interest won't sway you somewhat.

The thread title was, I believe 'What do tenants want?', not 'What do people who aren't tenants think tenants want?' or 'What would landlords like tenants to want?'

The latter 2 may be very interesting topics and deserving of a separate thread of their own (debatable?) but they are not really relevant here. That's all.

homehunter

I would like to see LL's made to bring a property up to a certain standard before they take rent payments. When we were looking for a place back in July/August (after being forced out of a rented flat when LL defaulted on non-BTL mortgage :rolleyes:) we had to move pretty quickly. The standard of some of the properties were, quite frankly, shocking. Cat flaps covered with cardboard, smells of old dog, damp in the bathrooms, poorly fitted units, threadbare carpets...you name it, we saw it.

The place we are currently in had some of these problems and by all accounts the LL was very reluctant to do certain things, but we insisted he had to (and after all, he would have been desperate given that there's no parking, ruling out any drivers taking on the house). Peeling paint in bathroom (poor ventiliation - it's an old 1890s terrace), burn in the carpet (one of those stain-resistant ones), broken handle on a door. Only little things which we would expect to have been part-paid for by previous tenant (burn in carpet) so no excuses.

But - we've been here for 9 months now and we keep finding out where things have been done on the cheap. Back door is old and doesn't 'fit' properly, bath is almost on a slant and shower door is fitted incorrectly so water leaks down onto carpet, gaps next to the front door leaving bare earth for ants to invade, bits of the kitchen units not fixed properly. We reported the first two ages ago and his 'handyman' came and had a look - said we'd be lucky because the LL is known as a 'scrooge'! Needless to say, we haven't heard a sausage. We're in, we're paying rent and that's all they care about. Why should we pay ourselves? Just so the LL gets the benefit when he takes new tenants and jacks up the rent?

Particularly with older properties, there should be a set of minimum standards for a property before it's rented. Tenants in other Euro countries have these rights, don't they?

Can't wait til I can buy my own place...

olly300

Carolt you have a difficulty reading what some posters write, and answer what you think they have said rather than debating what they have actually said.

The CAB and people I've personally met in their professional capacity want the law change on repairs and evictions due to the amount of misery they have met and seen.

Chief Executive of Citizens Advice David Harker said:

“Everyone should have the right to live in a safe and decent home, and a change in the law would end the misery endured by many vulnerable people who are too afraid to complain. No responsible landlord has anything to fear from what we are proposing.

http://www.nacab.org.uk/index/pressoffice/press_index/press_20070613.htm

Yet according to you these people aren't allowed to contribute to this thread even though these people would actually be more useful in helping you achieve your aims.

I don't know what part of the country you are in but very few landlords where I live will take vulnerable tenants who should be in social housing for a variety of reasons.

The ones that do and don't let them live in a slum have a right to speak out as these tenants often need more help than simply what a landlord is suppose to provide.