It appears that the blight of all good landlords, the rogue landlord, is still around and busily giving other landlords the bad name that has clung to them for centuries.
Despite the efforts of Councils, Governments and ever increasingly, responsible Landlord Associations it seems as though some people will never get the message. Organisations such as the Landlord Association and the Residential Landlords Association spend considerable time educating and encouraging their members to comply with legal requirements, organise essentials such as landlord insurance and to do everything in their control to look after their tenant, who is after all their wage packet, with as much consideration as possible. They must be terribly frustrated when rogue landlords hit the headlines.
Perfect bad example
The perfect example of a rogue landlord once again found its way into the press earlier this week. Early last year, the fire brigade brought a home in Greater Manchester to the attention of the local council. They reported that the tenant living in the property had no running water, no heating, no toilet facilities and the house had a number of smashed windows. The situation was bad enough for the council to immediately find emergency accommodation for the tenant, and for them to warn the landlord that the house could not be let again until it complied with health and safety standards, and other legislation.
Within a few months council officers noticed the house was occupied again and after talking with the new tenant found that the required work had not been completed. The landlord was fined £4,000 this week for not conforming to legal requirements. The legal demands on a residential landlord including compliance of the Health and Safety act are well documented and can be obtained from Local Authorities, Government sources and the websites of property insurance brokers.
It is not rocket science
The requirements are not simple but neither are they hard to organise, and any good landlord will know they not only protect his tenant but they protect him and his property. It is a pity that in a country that now has a high propensity of good landlords that it is still the bad ones that make an impression on the public.