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0 pointskevingadd2y ago0 comments

They probably use the term "landlord" to refer to professional full-time landlords, sort of like how you wouldn't call a person a "carpenter" just because they made a table or a chair in their spare time (though personally, I wouldn't object to that person choosing to call themselves a carpenter.)

The person with one spare home that's renting it out is likely doing it as supplementary income, or might not even be turning a profit on it. They're basically just preventing the home from sitting empty, to try and get value out of it.

Naturally the renter would call them both landlords, but from personal experience the renting experience is also very different when you're renting somebody's second home vs when you're renting from a big corporation.

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n4r92y ago· 2 in thread

Plus there's a whole spectrum from surplus letting to mega corporate agents. There are individual landlords who own 3-6 lets, respond promptly to call-outs, keep the buildings in good condition, are cautious to raise rents, and don't try to screw you over on the deposit. They're difficult to find (partly because tenants stick with them) but they're out there and doing a good thing for society. The question is not necessarily "how to we get rid of landlords" but possibly "how do we incentivise this type of landlord vs big corporations".

jackvalentine2y ago

There is also a whole slate of individual landlords with small holdings that let out rundown slums. Being small scale isn't the panacea your comment implies.

n4r92y ago

Didn't mean to imply that although I see where you're coming from. I was instead trying to counter the idea that anything bigger than a surplus room letter is bad.

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