According to a recent survey, the number of Section 21 two month notices served against tenants for defaulting on their rent rose by 11% in the last twelve months, but since the number of buy to let mortgage arrears cases has fallen by 12% in the same period, it would appear that difficult economic conditions have not yet had a full impact on the rental market.

These figures follow on from previous comments I have made about the problems many landlords (including myself) are facing with the current economic conditions in this country. Money is tight, and for those living at the lower end of the rental market, finding the cash to pay the rent each month is not always easy.

The days where we can afford to be lenient with our tenants are long gone and the first time a tenant is late with the rent cheque is always a cause for concern. Like all landlords, my rental properties are my business, and if my clients fail to pay on time, my cash flow dries up. And with court orders to evict tenants up by 9% in the last twelve months, it would appear that many other landlords are also not willing to wait around for tenants to sort their finances out.

Is there anything you can do to protect yourself from this problem?

Yes, there is. It is vital you check credit references before finalising a tenancy agreement. Taking the time to do this thoroughly will hopefully save you a lot of grief in the long run!

I pride myself on being a respectable landlord. My properties are well maintained and I look after my tenants as best I can (within reason). My property rental business is about making money, but not at the expense of vulnerable people. However, after reading about the Dispatches investigation scheduled for 8pm on Channel 4 this evening, it appears that there are rather a lot of unscrupulous people out there who could best be described as “slum landlords”.

In tonight’s Channel 4 documentary from the award winning Dispatches team, veteran reporter, Jon Snow, promises to lift the lid on the shady world of slum landlords, revealing the “shocking conditions in which tenants are forced to live.”  With scenes indicative of a Charles Dickens novel, viewers can apparently look forward to seeing squalid properties unfit for human habitation being administered by bullying landlords who pocket huge sums of money at the expense of their vulnerable tenants. Andunlike me, these landlords are regularly raking in millions of pounds per year in income from their poor, beleaguered tenants. There is also mention in the programme of landlords in London capitalising on the lack of rental accommodation by charging desperate tenants money to live in illegal sheds!

Frankly, the conditions described in the programme blurb sound appalling and it is difficult to imagine that landlords in this day and age are able to get away with such abuses. But like lots of landlords, I will be watching Dispatches tonight with a great deal of interest.

If anyone had told me a few years ago that a simple text message was the future of rent collection, I probably would have laughed my socks off. Not because I am a technophobe—I love gadgets and new phones just like lots of people—but because SMS seems such a crazy way of communicating with tenants. But the world is changing and in order to stay one step ahead of the game, we need to adapt.

So how can SMS revolutionise the life of a landlord?

Well according to one news report I read this morning, a large number of estate and letting agents are coming around to the idea of embracing modern technology as a way of making life easier. Instead of writing letters or emails to tenants who have fallen behind with the rent, SMS is a quick and convenient way of communicating with the tenant and reminding them that their rent is overdue.

Of course, when you think about it, using SMS is a no-brainer. Everyone and their dog owns a mobile phone these days, whereas not everyone checks email or bothers to open the post thanks to the volume of SPAM and junk mail we are bombarded with on a daily basis. However, sending a polite SMS can often elicit a quick response from the tenant and the landlord can manage payment problems far more quickly. SMS has other advantages, too: it can also be used to contact prospective tenant if you have a soon to be vacant property that matches their requirements.