Who would choose to do this job?
I shared last month's PDPLA Newsletter with a friend, he is a retired principal lecturer and research supervisor specialising in leadership, management and international human resource management at the University so at least from an academic perspective, he knows about business. His response was interesting and contrasts well with a conversation an associate had with a (probable) rogue landlord this month.
Two Perspectives
My retired friend said, "Having read the February edition of the PDPLA newsletter, I definitely don't want to be a 'lord of the land'. It seems to me that a landlord needs to be politically astute, a contracts manager, a financial accountant, high in emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills, resilient with high intra-personal skills, IT and AI literate, literate and able to write well, able to undertake a wide range of maintenance skills inter alia. Not for the faint hearted."
I asked my AI to put it in simpler terms and got this: "Being a landlord requires a diverse skill set. They need to be politically savvy, proficient in managing contracts, and skilled in financial accounting. They should also have strong emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills, be resilient with good self-management, and be knowledgeable in IT and AI. Additionally, landlords need to be literate and capable of writing well, as well as having the ability to perform various maintenance tasks. It's not a job for the faint-hearted."
It was interesting, as the same day, I the Facebook page of an agent I sometimes work with had this: "I had a phone call this week from a landlord on a withheld number. Didn't introduce himself just barked a lot of questions at me. It's left me feeling so frustrated.
He asked me questions about HMO building insurance and who I use, when I told him the broker I use, he said 'nah not them, too expensive'.
The conversation then quickly moved to HMOs and management and he said he had rented his house out to a company on a rent to rent basis but he believes they have rented the rooms out individually… it's ok though as the tenants only stay there on a monthly contract. I stressed my concerns that this could be an unlicensed HMO if it's the tenants only and permanent residence. He didn't seem to care
He said it's ok as there's a term in his contract that states they cant rent it as a HMO… I explained if he knows about it he should act as the council issue huge fines. On both agent and landlord. I said I can help him obtain a license but he wouldn't give me the details in case I 'tell the council on him'.
He then started to ask about my agency and actually asked me what I earn from it 'with that amount of rooms you must be rolling in it, how much do you earn then?'. I mean who even says that. No we have staff, office, cars etc to pay for so no I'm not 'rolling in it'.
I then said I find you quite rude and I'm not going to tell you my financial situation… to which he hung up!
So this my friends is the reason why we all have to bend over backwards in order to make sure our HMOs are compliant and spend thousands in the process… licensing schemes are introduced to try and stop these rogues yet they still operate under the radar, with absolutely no f**ks given about their properties and the people in them
I still can't believe how the conversation went, what a rude person. Someone I do not want to help or do business with.
What's a bet he will be knocking on my door again in a few months asking me to help him get out of a £10k fine. Sorry mate far too busy. "
Maybe my friend is right - at times one wonders whether success is possible in this line of work.