Property expert Kate Faulkner has done a number of special reports funded by the TDS Charitable Foundation. The most recent one looks at the interesting question of who landlords actually are.
To do this she consulted a number of surveys and reports and did her own survey.
The conclusion she came to is that landlords are mostly ordinary people aged over 55 with ordinary jobs who own just the one property. But here is Kate’s list.
1. Most landlords are over 55 years old;
2. The older the landlord, the more reliant they are on rental income;
3. Many started/still rent out a home they originally lived in;
4. Most landlords have one property;
5. The majority of landlords are not full time and either run a business or have another job;
6. Landlords occupations vary from those in education, the forces, IT, finance, engineering, civil service, transport, legal services and journalism;
7. Landlords invest for a variety of reasons, not all being financial gain, for example, to help house family and friends;
8. There is confusion among landlords over the law and regulations in lettings;
9. Legislative and regulation changes appear more likely to be implemented if the rules are clear, concise and consistently reported and communicated;
10. There are no ‘stand out’ places for landlords to seek advice.
The survey presumably did not include the substantial number of criminal landlords which Ben writes about. It would be interesting to know how large this criminal element actually is.
Maybe Kate could take a look at this next?
You will find her current report here.
