They feel "demonised" by being portrayed in the media as greedy
Over eight in 10, or 81%, of landlords feel that their portrayal by the mainstream media is unfair and inaccurate, according to research from Landbay.
The specialist buy-to-let lender’s quarterly landlord survey asked landlords if they agreed with the statement that the media portrayal of them is fair and accurate. One third of landlords (33%) strongly disagreed, while almost half (48%) disagreed.
Landbay said that some landlords pointed out that the mainstream media fails to recognise the important role they play in helping solve the housing crisis in the UK.
Also, while demand for rental properties remains incredibly high, landlords said they feel “demonised” by being portrayed in the media as greedy, with one landlord stating that he is “fed up with being portrayed as someone who has plenty of money and is profiteering off tenants.”
They also argue that the media blames landlords for the lack of stock and increasing rents, rather than the lack of properties built by the government over many years.
“It would be good if the media was more balanced and also portrayed the issues for landlords with problem tenants,” another landlord, quoted by the Landbay report, commented.
“There’s no question landlords have needed to be thick-skinned with successive anti-landlord governments and plenty of anti-landlord rhetoric in the national news,” Paul Brett (pictured), managing director of intermediaries at Landbay, said. “It’s unfortunate that bad news leads when there are so many positive examples of good landlords working in partnership with tenants to provide quality housing.
“With such a reliance on rented accommodation as part of the wider housing mix in the UK, we need quality landlords more than ever. We also need new entrants too as demand continues to outstrip supply.”
Brett, however, stressed that to make this all happen, the government must champion those good quality landlords and work with the sector, rather than against it.
“This will hopefully bring a more balanced approach to the national news agenda and relieve some of the pressure felt by honest and hard-working landlords across the country,” he said.
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