Tenants’s rights and awareness of their rights or should it be tenants' what rights?

red40

An interesting article I have just read about a small poll carried out on tenants and the rented private sector. Surely you should know your rights before you sign any tenancy agreement or what you can and cant do. I mean its not as though there aren't plenty of places available to get the information from

Community Legal Service Direct (CLSD) recently published some research it conducted into the UK’s rental community. They conducted a poll of 528 people living in privately rented accommodation in the UK; the findings from which were used as a news hook to highlight the lack of awareness around renters’ basic statutory rights.
It should be noted that this was not an in-depth study, but one that CLSD hopes is likely to be representative of the rental community. The key findings are as follows:

• 63 per cent of tenants in the UK are unable to name any of their basic statutory rights
• when asked to name their rights, just 3 per cent of tenants mentioned that the landlord is only entitled to keep their deposit if they can prove that the property has been mistreated
• only 1 in 5 renters highlighted that a landlord must serve notice on a tenant if they wish them to leave
• 86 per cent did not mention that landlords must keep the building in good condition, maintaining gas, electricity, water and heating equipment
• a landlord’s failure to do maintenance and repair work was found to be the most common cause of disputes, cited by 56 per cent of renters
• 1 in 4 (24 per cent) of those who reported having fallen out with a landlord had attributed the dispute to rent or deposits
• 92 per cent of renters in the UK have never received professional advice on renting a property
• A third of people (36 per cent) feel they need more advice on landlords’ maintenance and repair obligations whilst 12 per cent would like more information on rental agreements.

It would be interesting to do a similar poll on landlords and see what exactly they know about renting, hopefully the law commissions report about the private rented sector will be taken seriously and all private rented accommodation will somehow be regulated!

PasturesNew

I'd say this is true.
While those in the know have got their hands on information, it is probably because they are connected in some way with this information before they do anything, or find out after.

At the point in time when you need/want to rent privately, your focus is on your immediate need - and mostly you will be trying to solve a bigger problem (having NO home), so you pretty much sign things and think it must be OK or you'll sort it out in the future.

I think landlords are just as guilty of not knowing their rights/obligations. And they SHOULD know better as it is their business to.

Gingernutmeg

What's the point of a tenant knowing their rights (I'm thinking here of things like maintenance, gas safety certificates etc) when it's damn near impossible to get some landlords to act the way they should, and an insistence on these things can often result in a tenancy being jeopardised? It's often much easier (and cheaper) for landlords to find new tenants than it is for the tenant to move out and find a new home ...

Tori_Bellatrix

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'd say this is true.
While those in the know have got their hands on information, it is probably because they are connected in some way with this information before they do anything, or find out after.

At the point in time when you need/want to rent privately, your focus is on your immediate need - and mostly you will be trying to solve a bigger problem (having NO home), so you pretty much sign things and think it must be OK or you'll sort it out in the future.

I think landlords are just as guilty of not knowing their rights/obligations. And they SHOULD know better as it is their business to.

Totally agree with you ... (Judging by my LL anyway)

Gorgeous_George

Conclusive proof that tenants need to do their research.

a landlord’s failure to do maintenance and repair work was found to be the most common cause of disputes, cited by 56 per cent of renters
1 in 4 (24 per cent) of those who reported having fallen out with a landlord had attributed the dispute to rent or deposits

One-sided poll. The tenant's perception of poor service feeds the survey but the service may have been appropriate.

GG

clutton_2

""all private rented accommodation will somehow be regulated! "" ?????????????????????????????????????????????

Landlords have to comply with 69 different Acts of Parliament already !!!!!!!!!!!

do you want blood ????

dolce_vita

Over 20 years as a landlord I have known hundreds of tenants.
I could count on one hand those that knew their rights.

And out of the many landlords I know, not many of them know theirs either.

Often it's a case of just "bumbling along" and it's usually only when some dispute occurs that the respective parties "gen up" on the law.

clutton_2

"" I could count on one hand those that knew their rights."" - me too.

Tassotti

The percentage that actually do know their rights can and will screw you for thousands......

MissMoneypenny

Tassotti wrote: »

The percentage that actually do know their rights can and will screw you for thousands......

Then why don't the LLs know what they should be doing in the first place? It is a business after all. People get screwed in business every day.

MissMoneypenny

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

What's the point of a tenant knowing their rights (I'm thinking here of things like maintenance, gas safety certificates etc) when it's damn near impossible to get some landlords to act the way they should, and an insistence on these things can often result in a tenancy being jeopardised?

Then why not move somewhere else? Get the councils private housing to go for the LL and then leave the LL with a void when you move. Many LLs seem to operate on a shoestring anyway. Then the house will be made legal for the next tenant.

My first experience of bad a LL was when my son was a student. My daughter didn't have any bad LLs when she was a student. There is plenty of information out there telling tenants what to do about the bad LLs. And don't forget to use Trading Standards also if you can.

I can never understand why LLs don't so their repairs or make sure their properties have central heating in, as it can't be doing their properties any good to neglect them. Why haven't they got the sense to look after their assets?