Landlords should view property as business

Posted: 10 Sep 2008 13:55:43 GMT

Landlords need to think of their property as a business rather than as their home, and should be prepared for it to experience 'wear and tear' the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has claimed.

According to the organisation, it is important that landlords do not become emotionally attached to any property that they are renting. It also suggested that they should not expect it to stay in the same condition.

Alan Ward, director of the RLA, said: "You cannot be emotionally attached to a property that you are renting out. It won't be cared for as you have cared for it - and this is part of the 'wear and tear' of letting.

He also warned that with more than 80 different pieces of legislation affecting landlords, a growing number of people are operating within the market without a clear understanding of its intricacies, suggesting that this number has increased by 30 per cent in the past five years.

Meanwhile, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors published a survey last month revealing that 43 per cent more chartered surveyors reported a rise than a fall in landlord instructions to let, up from 30 per cent in the previous quarter.


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