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A quarter of private landlords in Bristol are considering selling their properties because of ‘problem tenants’ who don’t pay the rent and damage their property.

That is the controversial claim from a survey commissioned by online letting agent MakeUrMove, which revealed that almost half of all private landlords have had issues with tenants who don’t pay the rent on time.

But tenants themselves poured scorn on the survey results, saying many landlords are getting rich off the back of charging tenants exorbitant rents and leaving properties in a poor condition.

Acorn tenants union said the idea that landlords were somehow suffering was 'offensive', dismissed the survey as 'scaremongering' and said the complete opposite was true.

The survey of landlords in the city painted a picture of rising costs, problems and regulations which are hitting landlords in the pocket and prompting many to consider quitting.

The survey revealed that one in four landlords are ‘considering selling their rental properties due to a problem tenants, with unpaid rent and damage running into thousands of pounds cited as the main problems’, a spokesperson for MakeUrMove said.

They added that 48 per cent of landlords in the city have had issues with tenants who ‘don’t pay the rent on time’.

One in ten reported that they have faced large bills when tenants have left properties in a state of damage and disrepair.

“Many have had to pay thousands to restore their property after a tenant has moved out, with one landlord surveyed left with £16,000 of damage,” she said.

“Landlords say damage caused by tenants far outstrips the sum of the deposit usually taken at the start of the tenancy and held in the government-backed Deposit Protection Scheme.

“This pressure is leading the majority of ‘good’ landlords, who try their best to support tenants, to feel they can’t continue to rent out their properties,” she said.

(Image: Getty)

“The study found 100 per cent of landlords in Bristol believe it's important to keep tenants happy, 92 per cent have a good relationship with the tenants and 19 per cent update items for the benefit of the occupant.

“Despite their best efforts, landlords are suffering when tenants don’t repay the favour, with a third of landlords in the city saying their biggest worry is problem tenants,” she said.

MakeUrMove’s managing director Alexandra Morris said a lot of landlords in Bristol only have one property and are finding it tough.

“Half (52 per cent) of landlords in Bristol are ‘accidental’ or ‘casual’ landlords, meaning they only have one property and rent it out to supplement their main working income,” she said.

“As these landlords make up the backbone of the British property market, it’s important they feel happy to carry on letting. Stress and financial pressures caused by ‘challenging’ tenants is a sure fire way to put them off and steer them away from further investment,” she added.

“This could also be a real worry for smaller landlords when it comes to cash flow.

“Generally, as long as the rent is coming in every month to cover mortgages and other associated costs, smaller ‘casual’ landlords don’t often plan for bigger costs caused by damage from tenants or lack of funds due to unpaid rent.

“As a result, when a big outlay comes around, some landlords find themselves in trouble, and there’s very little protection offered from the government against these things,” she added.

Landlords are currently mounting a campaign against the city council’s plan to extend two different licensing schemes to more areas of Bristol.

Housing chiefs at City Hall want to extend the licence scheme that has proved controversial in the Easton and Fishponds area of the city, and also want to impose a tougher new licence scheme on shared houses and HMOs in 12 different areas of the city.

The consultation period on those ideas has just ended and was dominated by landlords rather than tenants.

“Legislation is currently swinging towards tenants, at the risk of undermining the vital role played by private landlords in the UK housing market,” Ms Morris added.

“Legislation such as the proposed deposit cap could make it even harder for private landlords to deal with challenging tenants, resulting in further pressures on landlords to sell up.

“Whilst landlords selling their properties may appear to offer some short term benefits for buyers, it cannot deal with the systemic problems surrounding the lack of housing supply.

“It will also reduce supply in the rental sector, which will increase demand and likely only increase pressures on the remaining landlords to increase rents,” she added.

But a spokesperson for tenants’ union Acorn, which supports tenants facing poor conditions, rising rents and evictions from landlords, poured scorn on the survey.

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They pointed out that while half of all landlords in Bristol are ‘casual landlords’, a large number of rented homes are owned by a small number of landlords who have dozens of homes each.

"The idea that legislation is currently favouring tenants over landlords is ridiculous and for many tenants in Bristol that suggestion is downright offensive," said Acorn spokesperson Louie Herbert.

"Landlords can charge whatever rent they please for a property, keep conditions in that property pretty lousy without breaking environmental health codes, have the power to evict tenants that are not sticking to their tenancy agreement, can claim back any money owed through a court system that benefits them and can evict tenants for no reason at all at the end of a tenancy.

"We are suffering an acute housing crisis in the UK and an unregulated market made up of private landlords looking to exploit that crisis by charging obscene rents is one of the biggest driving forces behind that crisis.

"I don’t know what leading questions they asked to get their warped figures from but a study by The BBC England Data Unit* shows that Bristol has seen average rent increase of 43 per cent since 2011.

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"And the English Housing study conducted by the Government's Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government shows that 'no -fault' evictions are the current leading cause of homelessness in the UK," he added.

"If legislation favoured tenants, there’s no way that would be happening.

"As far as one quarter of landlords apparently about to sell their home, this is the type of scaremongering ACORN regularly hears from organisations that represent landlords whenever any form of legislation that might give some power back to tenants is mentioned. It’s simply not true," he added.