Landlords happy but not respected by public
Thursday, 2 June 2011 11:14 AM
Research by BDRC Continental and the National Landlords Association has shown that 2011 has so far been a positive year for landlords – but they don’t feel respected by the public.
Almost half (49 per cent) of the landlords surveyed reported increased demand from tenants, and the same number also predicted that demand will continue to rise – just six per cent thought it would fall.
Despite the fact that 62 per cent thought their jobs had become harder recently, 78 per cent said they felt positive about their status as landlord.
Ten per cent of the survey respondents said they had expanded their property portfolio in the last three months, and 16 per cent said they planned to do so by August this year.
Interestingly, despite an across-the-board average rent rise of 4.7 per cent, only 43 per cent of landlords reported an increase in rents in their area. A fifth said they were making enough to live on rental income alone, one in three was making a profit, ten per cent were breaking even and just one in 20 was making a loss.
One worrying finding of the survey was that almost two thirds of landlords were either unaware of or unclear on the workings of Tenancy Deposit Schemes – despite the fact that it has been a legal requirement for landlords to use them since April 2007.
The main frustrations cited by the landlords were rental arrears (52 per cent had experienced this during the past 12 months), void periods, poor public perception (only eight per cent thought that landlords are respected by the public), and the lack of collaborative approach in local authority housing.
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