Simon Duce Blog

Can you stop it being them and us'

Behaviour in the world of lettings is a contentious issue.

Bad behaviour (or bad practice) is prompting a raft of reforms designed to transform the industry.

But Mr Pickles is making a real chutney out of a tenants' charter; Teresa May is backtracking over immigration checks thrust at landlords; and the row over licensing letting agents rumbles on.

Rather than uniting the lettings industry for the greater good, the proposed new initiatives are only serving to divide tenants and landlords. Plus you have organisations like Shelter whipping up negative sentiment.

Suddenly there seems to be little chance of good lettings practice ever making the news.

The myriad stories in the lettings trade press about tenants trashing a property or defaulting on rental payments are hard for agents and landlords to ignore.

Yet, the breaking news about the tenant who lit a barbecue in the living room or the one who never paid a full month's rent hardly ever makes it into the public domain.

Meanwhile the uncaring landlord or greedy letting agent makes the consumer press headlines on a seemingly weekly basis, cast as the villain.

Perhaps sympathy mainly resides with tenants due to unbalanced reporting but, nevertheless, the them and us' mentality is constantly fuelled.

The work of building bridges may lie with professional, enthusiastic letting agents and industry suppliers who see the value in harmonising the tenant/landlord relationship. Letting agents and their associates can be the glue that bonds the two parties.

No doubt there are some cracking tenant/landlord pairings in existence that are helped along by timely and professional property management. And many more agents will now look to improve the way they do lettings business as competition to retain tenants and landlords hots up.

Communication, communication, communication. Is this the answer to stop the divide worsening

Rather than let the popular press shape the thinking of the tenant, should agents ramp up the amount of contact they have with landlords and renters

After all, it is the landlords who choose a hands-off approach and a full management package who actually need the most support.

Perhaps it is time to question your business rationale if your only lines of communication are a renewal letter or bill chase.

Leaving a tenant to their own devices can end in catastrophic results - sometimes only discovered during the check-out at the end of the tenancy.

However, this does leave the question of private landlords working without an agent or property manager. That deserves a blog of its own!

* Simon Duce is managing director of the ARPM Group, which provides national outsourced lettings and property management services