Private renting: a myth buster These are some of the things we hear people say about private renting. “My landlord has given me notice, so I have
hours notice. They cannot just tell you they are
to leave when they tell me to.”
coming; they have to ask, because it is your home. If they come in without your permission, it
Wrong. Not many tenants know that it is actually
is trespassing.
a criminal offence for your landlord to evict you without a court order, and a court order is not the
Many people, both landlords and tenants, think
same thing as giving notice. Legally, you can
that owning something means you can do
stay in your home right up until court officials
whatever you want with it. But a home is so
come to your house, which could be up to 6
important to a person’s health and wellbeing that
months AFTER the end of your notice period. If
rules are there to stop landlords doing whatever
your landlord tries to make you move out sooner
they want. If you own a car, you cannot drive it in
by using intimidation or threats, this is a criminal
any way you want: you have to follow rules about
offence and you should tell the police (but be
how to drive it so that you don’t harm others. The
prepared for ignorance; some police mistakenly
same principle applies to homes. We at Digs
believe it is a civil, rather than criminal, matter!).
think the rules need to be made stronger.
You are legally allowed to change the locks to protect yourself from harassment, as long as you
“Landlords are only putting the rent up
keep the original lock and put it back on when
because they have to.”
you leave. You should also tell the Tenancy Relations Officer at your council (they have different titles at different councils: in Hackney they are called Housing Options and their job is to protect you from bad landlords. Their phone number is 020 8356 2929). “It’s my landlord’s house, so they can do whatever they like.”
Wrong. Many landlords say this, but actually business is booming for landlords because mortgage interest rates are at an all time low. Monthly rents are already much higher than monthly mortgage payments, and landlords are enjoying record profits – especially for houses of multiple occupation (HMOs, or shared houses with more than four bedrooms). Many landlords have already paid off their mortgages, using the
Wrong. It’s your landlord’s PROPERTY, but while
income from their tenants, and banks are now
you’re paying rent it is your HOME. You do not
offering the best deals ever on Buy To Let (BTL)
have to let the landlord into your home if you
mortgages. The real reason they are increasing
don’t want to, and you do not have to give them a
rents is because they can: fewer and fewer
key. The only time you have to let them in is
people can afford to buy their own homes and
when they need to do repairs, but they must
social housing provision is decreasing, so more
arrange a time with you first, with at least 24
and more people have no choice but to rent
privately.
Most shared houses have joint tenancy agreements. If one person doesn’t pay their
“My landlord said he’s putting the rent up next month, so I’ve got to pay it.” Wrong. Landlords cannot legally put the rent up just by telling you, or by writing you a letter. Rent can only be increased by formal application, with proper notice, or if there is a clause in your contract about fixed rent increases, or if you sign a new contract at a higher rent. If you think the rent is too high, you can apply to the Rent Assessment Committee, who will decide whether the proposed rent is in line with the market rate based on the levels recorded by the Valuation Office Agency (see www.voa.gov.uk - Hackney is ‘Inner East London’). Unfortunately, we have not had rent control in the UK since 1988, so rents
share of the rent, everyone else is liable, and some landlords use this to their advantage. For example, if one tenant complains, they try to punish all the tenants by threatening eviction or rent increases in the hope that the other tenants will then turn on the complaining tenant. Some of our members report landlords playing joint tenants off against each other, for example tricking them into thinking that all the others have agreed to something they haven’t. But if you all stick together and support each other, joint tenancies can actually be more powerful. A group is always more powerful than a single voice. “I can’t complain about my landlord because if I do, they will evict me.”
are determined by the market, not by quality or by average salaries.
Sadly, it’s true that ‘retaliatory evictions’ are common in areas of high demand like London.
“Going through a lettings agency protects me from a bad landlord.” Wrong. In our experience, agents are usually on the side of the landlord. Agents charge tenants extortionate ‘administration’ fees (in the case of Foxtons, £425 per tenant) but most of our members report that once you have signed up for a house, agents lose all interest in getting repairs done: they say they can’t get in touch with the
But in some other countries, tenants are protected against them – either by longer minimum tenancies, as in Europe, or by specific legal protection against retaliation, as in some US cities. So it doesn’t have to be this way. If more people stood up to their landlords, and sought the help that their local council is there to give, landlords would be less likely to retaliate when people make valid complaints.
landlord or that the landlord hasn’t given
“My landlord has given me a contract, so they
permission. Some agents are known to
must be ok.”
encourage landlords to end tenancies every six months because they can put the rent up each
Wrong. Private landlords currently do not have to
time they get new tenants, and the agents can
get any kind of licence to rent out a house in
charge ‘administration’ fees each time.
Hackney, or even register on any list. So far, Newham is the only London borough to make it
“I live in shared house, so I can’t do anything about a bad landlord.”
compulsory for all private landlords to get a
licence. So while private tenants have to have all
value of their deposit. However, other courts
kinds of credit checks done, and provide
have ruled in favour of landlords.
employer’s references (sometimes even character references or references from a previous landlord), private landlords have no checks done on them at all – not even criminal record checks. At Digs, we think there should be more transparency so that tenants can make more informed choices. At the very least, councils should know who is renting homes in their borough. “I haven’t got a written contract, so I’ve got no rights.” Wrong. As long as you have proof that you’ve paid rent (for example, from your bank statement) you have all the rights you can expect from an assured shorthold tenancy (AST – the most common kind of tenancy).
“If I don’t like what my landlord does, I can go elsewhere.” Landlords often say this, but they know that people can’t keep moving house every six months: it affects people’s health, relationships, jobs, schools and communities. A home is not like a T-shirt or a sandwich: if you don’t like the price or the quality, you can’t just walk away or choose a different one. “I just want an easy life, so I’ll put up with it.” Even if you’re prepared to tolerate broken central heating, a leaking roof, spiraling rents or landlord bullying, it still affects your fellow renters – whether it’s the ones you share a house with or just other people in your position. The worst
“I shouldn’t expect to get my deposit back;
landlords behave badly partly because they think
landlords usually take it.”
they can get away with it. Do your fellow renters a favour: don’t put up with it.
Wrong. Surprisingly few renters are aware that since 2007, landlords have had a legal obligation to put your deposit in a protection scheme and give you proof of the protection within 30 days of the start of your tenancy. If they try to deduct money from your deposit after you move out, and if you can’t reach an agreement that you think is fair, the deposit scheme will provide an independent dispute resolution service to ensure your landlord doesn’t unfairly keep your deposit. Remember, ‘fair wear and tear’ is allowed; you can only be charged if you have caused serious damage. When landlords have failed to protect deposits in the last few years, some tenants have taken them to court and won three times the
“If I don’t like renting, I should just buy my own home.” Landlords often say this, but they know that buying a home is impossible for the majority of private renters – even those who earn very high salaries. Most people do not choose to rent; we do it because we have no choice. The average price of a flat in Hackney is £312,000, so you would need a yearly salary of £78,000 and a deposit of around £30,000 to be able to buy. The problem is not unique to Hackney or to London: in most of the country, house prices no longer bear any relation to earnings. But for landlords, it’s a great time to buy; the Buy To Let (BTL)
market is booming.
properly and help us when we have bad landlords. We can demand that Hackney keeps a
“That’s just the way it is; there’s nothing we can do about it.” Wrong. Private renters in other countries have a much better deal: there are tighter regulations about rent increases, tenancy length and repairs, so tenants can have proper homes. In lots of European countries, people choose to rent rather than buy: this is not a different ‘cultural attitude’, as people often say. It is simply because renting is better in those countries. Even here in the UK, we had a form of rent control until 1988, and tenancies were longer than the standard six months that we have now.
register of landlords and keeps track of those who have complaints made about them. We can help other renters make informed choices by reviewing our landlords online (www.hackneyrenters.org/rate-your-landlord). In Scotland, letting agents’ fees were made illegal as a result of tenant-led campaigns. Renters in some US cities have set up ‘escrow’ accounts – independent third party accounts that rent can be paid into when serious repairs need doing, so that the landlord can only receive the rent once the repairs are done. In shared houses, we can stick up for our co-tenants to make a better home for everyone in it. We can talk to our MPs
If we work together, we can improve the lives of
(Dianne Abbott and Meg Hillier) about why the
all private renters in Hackney. We can educate
private renting system is broken and why we
our landlords and other tenants about renting
need new rules. There are 21,000 privately
laws; many simply do not know about them. We
rented households in Hackney. There’s a lot we
can put pressure on our council to do its job
can do together. Spread the word.
More information:
Tessa Shepperson, a housing lawyer, gives excellent advice for private renters at www.landlordlaw.co.uk/tenants/tindex/tips Hackney Community Law Centre: www.hclc.org.uk Hackney Housing Options team (whose job it is to help private renters with bad landlords): 020 8356 2929 (daytime) or 020 8356 2300 (after 6pm) Shelter advice helpline: 0808 800 4444 (free call, even from mobiles)