A letting agent says there is a marked rise in the number of tenants who cannot perform the simplest household tasks, such as changing light bulbs.
Benham & Reeves Residential Lettings said more and more tenants are relying on their property managers to deal with routine repairs that could be undertaken by the tenants themselves.
Managers at the London firm attribute the increase to a lack of ‘dad skills’ that are not being passed down the generations.
Director Marc von Grundherr said: “We will send out a qualified repairman to deal with any problems but some of these are so simple that you have to wonder why a tenant would go to the trouble of waiting in for someone.
“Just last week we had a tenant phone to say that their lights had gone off. We told him that he simply needed to flick the switch on his consumer unit as something had tripped.
"He refused, saying that he didn’t want to be electrocuted.”
Tenants have contacted the firm to change light bulbs, bleed radiators, tighten door handles, unblock U-bends and sinks, change batteries in smoke alarms and even wipe down condensation from windows.
One tenant kept complaining that he needed a new microwave as his plate didn’t fit. Benham & Reeves initially thought that he was referring to the turntable but it turned out it was the plates in the cupboard that were the problem. He demanded a larger microwave on the basis that “these were the plates that were in the flat when I moved in so they should fit”.
Another tenant was angry that his new television had not arrived. Benham & Reeves phoned the delivery company who said they had attempted a delivery on three separate occasions. When the property manager asked the tenant if his doorbell had been ringing over the last few days, he answered in the affirmative. The property manager politely suggested that in future he should answer the door.
One woman complained that her sink was blocked for days. It transpired that the plug was in.
A man complained that his shower was cold but had hot water elsewhere in the flat. The tenant had not turned the shower control from cold.
Von Grundherr said: “Without a doubt, calls to our property management service have gone up markedly over the last ten years.
“The very prospect of tackling anything around the home frightens many tenants and the majority do not even own a screwdriver set or a hammer.
“Is it down to absent dads, dads not passing on skills, or is it just down to higher expectations? Probably a combination of all three, but we expect this trend to rise as more and more people enter the private rental sector.”
So, if you are an agent and you ask yourself how many tenants does it take to change a lightbulb – is the answer likely to be none?
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Comments
@ Industry Observer on 2013-12-04 09:04:52
"How else can a young tenant possibly know which way to turn the knob on the washing machine, or which programme does what. Or above all, with arctic weather end of this week, change the boiler settings or ther timer clock".
Good grief man! What next - provide a carer for them?
Just leave the instruction manual for each appliance.
Ray Comer
is almost 100% right but not quite. In the actual trancript of Warren v Keen Lord Denning (as he became) did indeed say the tanant "...had to do the little jobs about the place".
Everyone here miosses the point and no-one as far as I can see on a quick read through has made it.
Issue a log book with each property, to be left in the property (twice I have had tenants pack it and take it away as it is so useful) advising them how to use, operate and replace anything and everything in the property.
How else can a young tenant possibly know which way to turn the knob on the washing machine, or which programme does what. Or above all, with arctic weather end of this week, change the boiler settings or ther timer clock.
Remember if you don't tell a tenant how to do something and they do it wrongly then first time cost is down to the Landlord (or agent for not doing the job properly)
And these same people have the vote, can claim DHSS money for the times they can not understand how to earn some money and the list goes on.
It is about time landlords supplied toilet paper with usage instructions printed on each sheet.
Is it any wonder that Shelter can claim that 99% of tenants agree with their latest barmy suggestion for a diktat that the government must issue immediately.
The population of this country is suffering from a plague of stupidity and their is very little we can do about it.
I feel much better now I have said that. Apologies.
@ GB on 2013-12-03 09:50:01
In my experience many agents rely only on a basic agreement which is no-where near specific enough regarding these 'responsibility' matters. That is why the agent is at fault on many occasions and create problems for themselves. .
In mitigation to what I said earlier - I am the only one in this Surveyors and Estate Agents office that bothers to change blown light bulbs in the office. Seems to be a dogsbody's job.
Christopher Clarke how old are you? not under 40 would be my guess Education fell apart when H&S meant all sharp and chemical stuff got taken out of the school technology rooms that were formerly used as workshops.
You have missed to point. It was the young assistant property manager who sent the plumber to my property and he whacked in the minimum call out fee of £50 plus vat, which includes a £12 kick back to the agent.
The property manager agreed with the tenant that I ought to pay because the property was inadequate in not even being big enough for a tumble drier.
She told the tenant that the clothes line could come down because no-one uses them these days. Even in the summer.
It was because I know about bleeding radiators that I refused to pay for the Agent's sorry, Assistant Property manger's ?????? ( the adjective hasn't been invented yet but it is unshakeable self confidence with no respect for any one or thing even when clearly wrong and very obviously stupid)
I have been ranting about this around the office all year - I do our quarterly inspections and it makes me want to cry.
I will admit that I might be (???) a bit unusual for an estate agent in that I know how to rewire a house, build a wardrobe from scratch out of sawn timber, build a brick wall, lay a patio, remove nasty viruses from computers AND I can sell & let property too - perhaps my dad taught me too well.
BUT, I just cannot believe the ineptitude of a very large minority of our tenants.
Some may feign ignorance on the basis that it is better to get someone else to do it (for FREE because you are the agent - !!).
I ended up sending a bill for £60 + VAT to a tenant because they insisted that both of the vacuum cleaners that were at their house did not work.
The first came with the house when they moved in, the second was provided after 6 months because the first didn't work any more.
Turned out that even though we had been through the whole "You've emptied it & cleaned the filter?" speech on both occasions that they had not done it with either of them.
I had to attend and it was immediately obvious.
A bunch of real Joey Essexes!
I get the same with light bulbs, washers, fridges, extractor fans, everything.
Amazing!
@not just the tenants
Bleeding a towel radiator is a 5 - 20 sec task once you have a radiator key and paper towel in your hand ... any responsible adult should be able to do this basic task and so calling in an agent to do it for you is, in my opinion, very much a 'hotel guest' attitude. Would a home owner call in a plumber to bleed radiators ? If so then they deserve to be expected to pay.
Not sure of your tumble drier point. I happen to loathe them and we use a washing line at home. A standard TD puts a LOT of moisture back in the room causing condensation and mould trouble ... unless the room is very well ventilated or the machine is vented to the outside. A condensing TD needs more basic maintenance than a normal TD .... and you might not like to be charged £60 to have the water tank and lint filter emptied for you!!!!
Nothing wrong with pretty young things as long as they are not airheads.
I'm not convinced that teachers are to blame for a generation who don't care to change lightbulbs or clear the gutters. I blame a combination of bad parenting and plain laziness. I have a son in law (tenant) who returned a power drill somone gave him saying he was not into DIY, and who cheerfully says he'd rather watch Eastenders & pay someone to fix things than make any attempt to learn himself ... but he is also always broke so can't easily pay someone. In my partners house that he once rented, he hung pictures by screwing wood screws into teh solid plaster till he hit the bricks, then stopping. He knew all about rawlplugs just couldn't be bothered.
Perhaps reality TV could stop showing bikinis in the jungle and start showing some more real & practical adult activity?
MSC - How can you say it is the agents fault. All tenancy agreements state quite clearly who is responsible. The problem is that most tenants don't read it and those that do just ignore the bits that they don't like. e.g. pay the rent on time. The thing is that as a letting agent I wasn't surprised by any of the stories mentioned.
"How will a tenancy agreement stop a call owing to a complete lack of common sense?"
If it costs them they will soon learn!
Our tenancy agreements are comprehensive and clearly stipulates what is tenant liability.
A lot of the problem with light bulbs stems from fancy fittings with weird bulbs and awkward fittings.
On rental appraisals one of my 'how to reduce landlord liabilty' exercises is suggesting the removal of ornate lamp fittings and replacing with standard bayonett fitting pendants.
Another classic is blocking the sewerage pipes with baby wipes.
Tenants also view renting as the goose that laid the golden egg and seem surprised that a servant is not awaiting their every whim
Warren v Keen 1953
Lord Denning set the bar for what a tenant is expected to do if they rent a home.
If we bring that forward to today we can see that this line of reasoning would probably include fitting replacement batteries for smoke alarms, replacing washers in taps, tightening up loose handles etc, replacing light bulbs of all types. One of the arguments you will often come up against is “I’m not a plumber” or “I don’t know anything about smoke alarms” or “I don’t have the skill to do that”.
Lord Denning didn’t necessarily mean for a tenant to do these things himself but to take responsibility for them; if they can’t change a battery themselves then they must pay the cost of having someone do that for them.
We regularly charge tenants for this type of simple job and tell them upfront that they will be charged if they insist on us doing it for them.
@MCS We had a call yesterday from a tenant in a block whose power was off and has set their fire alarm off. They wanted an electrician to come and fix it. She was asked the question whether anyone else's power off there, which she hadn't checked. She rang back a little later to say the power had come back on.
How will a tenancy agreement stop a call owing to a complete lack of common sense?
I run a successful, busy letting agency and have been managing property for 20 years; I have been a homeowner for 40 years and am hands on when it comes to resolving problems related to property both at home and in my day job. But, I am ashamed to admit that I am totally unable to replace blown downlighters despite many many attempts!! I can't even get the fiddly little collar out to remove the lamp.
Downlighters are the bane of a property manager's life - tenants can't/won't get on a stepladder to attempt it and, with H&S in mind, we are loathe to insist. Hence, landlords end up paying to replace blown lamps and - naturally - they only blow one at a time so this is potentially an ongoing expense.. However, replacing blown light bulbs is a different matter and our tenants would get very short shrift if they expected someone to do that!
Being a tenant is not the same as being a hotel guest - Lord Denning set it out very clearly that tenants had a duty to undertake small repairs and common sense must prevail in deciding whether a tenant is capable of handling the specific job which they are asking to have done by someone else.
In my view most of this simple problem is the fault of the agent.
A good tenancy agreement will sort this nonsense - stating what is and is not covered. That is not to say the management will not carry out these tasks - but they will be charged for.
Can very much agreee with this, though obviously the tenants pay for it! Some expect it to be like a hotel, and expect same day service on really menial problems.
Absent Dads? You speak as if a Mother couldn't teach their child how to change a light bulb or tighten a door handle. This is nothing more than stupidity on the tenants behalf or poor parenting in general.
I have had a £60 invoice for bleeding a radiator because the towel rail would not come on to dry towels. Being June the house wasn't cold enough to open the thermostatic valve on the radiator.
I had an interesting conversation, with the very pretty 'Assistant Property Manager' who "will be 18 in October" about my 2 bed starter home being too small for a tumble drier, the agent authorised removal of the unsightly string across the back garden and my refusal to stump up to fix the towel drying system in mid summer
The education system went belly up in the mid 80's and a generation on we are reaping the benefits of not teaching practical or vocational skills.