Shamplina Speaks - Why do people say ‘landlord’ isn’t a real job?!

In today’s world, where people can make money from something as simple as posting a photo of themselves wearing a new coat to endorsing the latest vitamin, it blows my mind that there is still the perception that ‘landlording’ is not a real job. 

Nowadays, the traditional 9-5 is just one option, but lots of people also earn money from unconventional jobs, as well as a variety of side hustles. Yet despite being more hands on and time consuming than most would ever imagine, and providing people with one of life’s greatest necessities, a home, being a landlord is still largely not accepted or valued. 

Landlords are providing a service which they are paid for and that they pay tax on. It may not always be a full-time job, depending on how many properties a landlord has and how much work is required to maintain them, but being a landlord is certainly a job

Someone recently wrote to me saying they were presenting to the parliamentary housing committee on behalf of landlords in Ireland. The chair of the committee asked “How many hours does a landlord work every week?” 

She rightly noted that he implied landlords work very little for large returns, which pretty much sums up public perception, forgetting that landlords have mortgages, management/ maintenance and taxes to pay, not to mention the risks, legislation and now inflation. 

What’s more, does anyone ever think of the endless hours of hard work that the landlord has put in to afford that property in the first place. Granted, some made smart decisions at the right time and their investment paid off. But that is not the case for a large majority, and either way, should they be penalised for that? Most landlords own one or two properties, purchased to supplement their income and/or pension. 

I think what people often do not appreciate are the challenges that come with being a landlord.  Not just financial aspects such as maintenance/repairs, void periods, compliance, damaged or event trashed properties and now increased mortgage rates, but also being a mediator and sometimes even a social worker. 

I’m increasingly frustrated by the portrayal of private landlords. I appreciate professional, competent landlords, providing safe and secure homes for their tenants do not make for an interesting story or good viewing on television, but the heavy focus on landlord bashing is fuelling the growing resentment and tarnishing the reputation of good landlords. 

By way of highlighting one particular mis-representation that landlords evict tenants in huge numbers, I’d like to point out the government-issued Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Mortgage and Landlord Possession Statistics, which refutes this idea. In actual fact, there is a long-term decreasing trend in landlord claims, orders, warrants and repossessions using the accelerated possession procedure (Section 21). 

Not all landlords are bad landlords, just like not all tenants are bad tenants – and pleasing all of the people all of time just isn’t possible. Of course, landlords have a responsibility to maintain their homes to good standards and keep it in good working order, but it would seem that more and more is being put on landlords with fewer options to turn to when things go wrong. 

Landlords are slowly losing the right to determine who lives under their roof and yet it is increasingly challenging to remove tenants who fail to respect their property. We know evictions are time-consuming and expensive and the court systems are not set up to handle an increased volume of cases when Section 21 is removed. 

Ultimately, over the last five to ten years, the government has taken action to deter private landlords from the buy-to-let market. The ‘plan’ was to fill that void with Build to Rent schemes and the building of new houses for sale so that home ownership was more achievable.  Right now, this outcome is ebbing further and further away, and yet private landlords are already at the door.  People will always need somewhere to live and constant Government intervention in the sector means it is no longer worthwhile for many of the good guys.  Now we have a situation where renters are ultimately the ones who will suffer. 

With all this said, I’ve been in this business long enough to know that this is an ever changing, fast-paced market and the pendulum can swing back the other way at any time. 

Demand for rental properties is extremely high so landlords who are able to remain in the market or have cash and wish to expand their portfolio are in a favourable position. The day of the amateur landlord is over, and this is no bad thing.  The industry needed to raise standards and deter rogues. I also believe the days of landlords being able to self-manage and remain compliant are numbered, but those who approach ‘landlording’ as a job, conduct themselves professionally and do things the right way can still prosper.  I hope in time we can change the perception of landlords.  

So, here’s my question to you, what bit of golden nugget advice would you give a new landlord starting out? 

* Paul Shamplina is founder of Landlord Action, Chief Commercial Officer at Hamilton Fraser, and is on Channel 5's "Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords” * 

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