Letters: Not all landlords are money-grabbing criminals – and not all tenants are angels

A Big Issue reader gives the landlords’ perspective on the Renter’s Rights Bill.

Landlords and labels 

Before labelling landlords evil, criminal and money grabbing, you may want to look at the situation from their perspective, not just the tenants, not all of whom are angels. 

Private landlords will only invest if the investment makes sense and is more profitable than other investments. We are not charities. We are selling our assets because successive governments have made it less and less worthwhile for landlords. The risks are too high. We have hundreds of regulations to comply with and associated high compliance costs. Individual landlords are taxed unfairly compared with corporate landlords. We face the risk of financial losses if a tenant decides not to pay the rent, or to wreck the property. 

The latest bill is the final nail in the coffin. The pendulum has swung too far in favour of tenants. I will be selling my properties and putting my money in hassle-free funds, which are much less risk and much less administration.  

It is a real shame that the only losers will be my tenants, most of whom have been with me for many years, and will now have to find other properties. I will tell my poor tenants, who have done nothing wrong, to blame successive governments and organisations that spew anti-landlords rhetoric. 

Bryan Stevens 

Pay attention 

Paul McNamee’s Editor’s Letter made me sit up, but for all the wrong reasons! I remember the news reports on that fateful Saturday but, more poignantly, I remember seeing the face of one of the 29 victims staring at me from the pages of my Sunday newspaper. I knew this person for a short time, and now their life had been brutally ended. Nearly 27 years on, I did not realise that a public inquiry into the bombing had finally opened.  

As far as I know, it was not a major news item. Even so, as McNamee points out, “it is an essential moment”. So many lives were directly – or indirectly – affected by the deadliest single attack of the Troubles. Despite 29 deaths and more than 200 others injured, nobody has been criminally convicted of carrying out the atrocity.  

The families of the victims have been calling for a public inquiry to learn the truth for decades. McNamee is right to assert that we should pay attention and listen carefully to heartrending accounts of loss, bewilderment and anger. The human, personal and emotional elements of this catastrophic event must be highlighted. But revealing the dark truth behind the bombing is also important. There must be accountability for those who may have known information that could have prevented the bombing, and accountability for those who prevented the truth from being known after the event. Beyond that though, if there were clear failings on the part of the state, will they receive some form of retribution? A vague public apology will not be enough. 

Mike Hobbins, Surrey 

• Renters’ Rights Bill must stop landlords raising rents above wages or inflation, government told
• Would 1.5m landlords selling up and leaving the rental market really be a bad thing?
• Landlords are threatening an ‘exodus’ by selling up. What will happen to renters’ homes if they do?

Re: incels

“Just wee guys who’ve been dealt an unbelievably bad hand in life.” I’m trying hard not to go with my gut reaction of ‘So what?’ Because some of them are big strapping men who send the most vile threats of rape and assault to women and girls online. 

Do I have empathy for them? Yes. But this echoes ‘Oh he’s harmless’ and ‘Boys will be boys’ – and every girl and woman knows exactly what that means.

Elaine Taylor, Facebook

Reddit reacts – Re: UK will be at war by next election, says ex-army Lib Dem MP – and will need conscription

Good luck with that mate. The political class that has disenfranchised the little people – particularly the generation that you’d want to fight for you – don’t be surprised when the little people turn around and tell them to go fuck themselves when being asked if they wouldn’t mind dying in a frozen ditch on somebody else’s battlefield. 

u/ZakalweTheChairmaker 

Can anyone explain why I should fight? I’m 25, I’ll be working until I’m 80, I can’t afford to rent, let alone buy a house. I can’t afford even a weekend away; likely never be able to have kids. The infrastructure of the country is crumbling around me, I can’t get an appointment with the NHS. 

The rich get richer while everyone else is left by the wayside. What exactly is there for me to fight for? 

u/Melodic-Lake-790 

What am I fighting for? A string of governments so inept that they’ve allowed fascists to gain a foothold. The corruption is so deep seated that they don’t even bother to hide it any more. I can’t vote for any of the parties, none of them represent me. I have spiralling university debts. They refuse to tax the rich and consistently punch down, currently having a pop at people on benefits. 

I would not fight any war – put me in prison instead. Oh wait, they are overcrowded. I feel sorry for the poor saps in the first wave of conscription. 

u/GamerGuyAlly 

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. Big Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play