Before they left, they plastered globs of lard on the walls, and destroyed the kitchen floor and wall by rigging the water pipes to constantly overflow down the outside wall.
I was not allowed to enter the property to inspect it, nor was I allowed to "harass them" by speaking to them face-to-face, because they didn't want me to. I was powerless.
Yes, they lost their deposit, but I was out of pocket tens of thousands, which I basically couldn't afford. I maxed out my credit cards and bank account overdrafts. Even selling the house, it took me nearly 5 years to get back to zero.
I'm not saying that UK law is worse for landlords, but the laws aren't particularly on the side of landlords either.
It seems like if you had the appropriate connections to government, this process would've been easier?
I learned a lot about contracts. I learned a lot about tenant laws. I learned a lot about insurance. I learned that if you have a cleaner employed in the houses you rent, then you have a legal right to enter the property to "inspect their work". I learned a lot about different types of people.
I did not learn any way, shape or form, that "having connections to government" would have made my efforts any easier.
I might rent out a house to a friend of a friend, but certainly not to a complete stranger.
The goal is to have a property pad off by tenants in 20-30 years so you have a nice nest egg to add to your 401K.
Best investment are certain multi-unit properties - thats where the math works the best.
As a landlord in the UK you have tons of power, while it's great you didn't abuse them, why you didn't exercise these legal rights when these people abused your property?
[0] https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-69983... [1] https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-80308...
UK laws are very much in the favour of the landlord.
But without going into detail, I definitely buried my head in the sand too much, and they did pay a small amount at one stage to make me think it might be okay. It was sixteen years ago now, and I've thankfully forgotten a lot of it.
I do remember that I had to restart the whole process when it was thrown out because a date was wrong on a letter. I wasted a whole heap of time trying to get the judge to reverse that decision rather than moving on and starting again.
Anyway, like I said, I was very naive back then, and made lots of mistakes.
Sorry you've had such crap tenants. 16 Years is a long time, and the laws could have changed on this in this time. So there is a good chance you are both right!
One place I used to rent from tried to swindle my deposit for "repairs" of things that were clearly just standard wear and tear over the years.
I argued till I was blue in the face and they eventually agreed with me on most of the things and agreed to "refund" me. They messed up somehow and transferred me 2x my initial deposit, normally I would absolutely let them know about their mistake but as they messed me around for months I didn't say a word and kept it. Suprise suprise they went out of business a few months later
Example: 21 days for some areas
Also, what happens when a property is vacant? Do taxes revert to the owner, or do they not get paid?
(Basically, a landlord bears the economic burden of a land value tax.)
"However, some economists think that the worker bears almost the entire burden of the tax because the employer passes the tax on in the form of lower wages. The tax incidence is thus said to fall on the employee."
This is much closer to reality than the contrary
The last apartment I rented (15 years back) had an interesting mechanism for this: The rent was about $2000 but they applied something they called a "subsidy" of $400 off per month. Basically if you pissed them off they could immediately raise your rent by $400 per month to drive you out.
It would eliminate the need for a middleman who is often borrowing money to fund the purchase himself, adding further inefficiencies to an already inefficient business model.
The prospect of builders becoming long-term landlords may also incentivize them to build a house that will last the course of the tenancy?
Developers (who hire builders) go to market for finance - they don't have the funds lying around.
Those financiers want a quickish (< 3/5 yrs) return, not a long term investment(20+ years).
£50k house -- £750 (1.5%)
£150k house -- £1500 (1%)
£650k house -- £3000 (0.5%)
£3000k house -- £3000 (0.1%)