It's a popular peak time programme and now one industry body says that ‘The week the landlords moved in’ on BBC1 is an eye-opener for the lettings industry.
The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC) says the biggest issue being raised is the apparent lack of communication between tenants, landlords and management companies.
The programme sees landlords spending a week in one of their tenant’s home and also having to cope on their weekly budget.
All of the landlords have, so far, used the experience to improve their tenant’s property but now the AIIC says the show should be a wake-up call for the industry.
The organisation's joint chair, Danny Zane, said: “Tenants failing to report a maintenance issue or a landlord or a manager failing to deal with a request has led to some serious problems in these properties which, with better communication could have been avoided.”
Lack of site visits and landlord inspections
The organisation also highlights another major issue which is the lack of site visits and landlord inspections with some problems becoming apparent when the landlord actually visited their own property.
The AIIC says regular visits and mid-term inspections are crucial to ensure the long-term condition of the landlord’s property and that small maintenance issues can worsen over a long period if left unattended.
Mr Zane added: “It's also been pleasing to see the compassionate attitude of landlords in the show and how they acted to improve their tenant’s property after living in them.
“We all know that most landlords will look after their tenants and most tenants will look after the landlord's property but this is not always highlighted in media coverage of the lettings industry.”
RLA slams foundation for misleading report
Meanwhile, the Residential Landlords’ Association (RLA) has slammed the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for a report it published stating that the number of evictions in the private rented sector are higher than those for the social sector.
The RLA says the report is 'misleading and distorted.'
They point to figures from the Ministry of Justice which paint a different picture and the opposite is true of what the Foundation claimed.
Alan Ward, the RLA's chairman, has written to the Foundation saying the organisation is concerned about the 'potentially misleading and distorted presentation' of government statistics on repossessions.
Among the issues highlighted by the Foundation are 40,000 tenants being evicted in 2015 and tenants being evicted without reason with research revealing that 80% of the recent rise for evictions was down to the no fault eviction process.
