Episode 4 The Week the Landlords Moved In


Episode 4

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Transcript


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There is a failure to provide enough housing

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for the people of this country.

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But landlords haven't made this problem,

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they've just got wealthier on the back of it.

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Once a nation of homeowners,

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there are now over 11 million people renting in Britain

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and most of the rent is being collected by private landlords.

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My philosophy is buy low, rent high.

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Proud Polish millionaire - that's the label I should be happy with.

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But many landlords have no idea what it's like to live in the properties

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they profit from...

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See the walls - damp and mould here.

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The baby's with allergy.

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It's affecting my health, undoubtedly.

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..and they can't always rely on the tenants to speak up.

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They have the power to say, "Right, you've nagged too much.

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"That's it. You're gone."

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I can't make it better for you till you say something!

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So, to experience it for themselves,

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these landlords have decided to swap their home comforts

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for a week in their tenants' shoes...

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It will give me some great insights.

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Maybe I don't want those insights.

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I'm quite excited. It's like going on holiday.

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Oh, my goodness!

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..to see the properties through their tenants' eyes...

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Whoa! Wow!

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That's the bad boy.

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Oh, OK, that pretty much is it.

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-Yeah.

-So it's quite small.

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Don't touch it - health and safety.

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..and live on their budgets.

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How are we going to eat on £54?

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It's like being unemployed again!

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And once they have lived the realities

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of renting for themselves...

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We feel like we've lived like paupers.

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A bit upset, really.

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I think it makes me feel vulnerable.

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..will it make them change their properties

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or how they view their tenants?

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It's not safe. Not sure how did they survive?

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If I don't help right now, she's going to be there forever.

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People often ask me how many properties I've got

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and what I'm worth and to be frank with you, I have lost track.

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Surrey landlord Ben has built his fortune buying up family houses

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to rent to the student market.

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Did you know I tried to buy this one here?

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What we should do is get a set so we have a house in each road.

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Real-life Monopoly!

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It's a strategy that's proved increasingly lucrative.

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If I was to rent out to a family,

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I can get £1,300 to £1,500 for the house.

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But if I rent out each single room and use the existing lounge

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as a bedroom, I can get £1,800 to £2,000.

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Three, four, five, six.

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You can get six bedrooms.

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-Yeah.

-And students are less demanding.

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We've got the strips coming off, haven't we?

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-They have.

-Unless they're spoilt,

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and in that case the students are very demanding.

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One, two, three, four, five.

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Ben has 22 properties that provide

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a monthly rental income of around £20,000

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and ensure he's free of financial worry.

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The thing that being a landlord allows you to do

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is to have a lot more time,

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rather than being caught up in whatever it is

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that people want you to do, you can say, "No, I don't need to do that."

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I can just go off and follow my dream.

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Eight, one...

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I love dancing.

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I do a lot in the Latin, but I also know a lot of modern jives.

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See those mirrors there, so I had those specially put in for me

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to practise my way of doing a body roll, so...

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My dad is eccentric, kind, highly intelligent.

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You think he's like bat sugar crazy.

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I have about 20,000-plus comics.

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I would say it's a valuable collection.

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It's probably worth about £30,000 or £40,000.

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There's this bit in me that wants to save the world.

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I really do feel like I would probably be like the Doctor Who,

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that would be my superhero.

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I'd arise when there's a problem.

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I'd fix it and I'd vanish from people's lives.

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Doctor Who. I'm a Dalek!

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So, no, it's the other way around, isn't it?

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Ben has properties all over the UK, but the majority

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are in the Surrey town of Egham, just outside of London.

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With over 9,000 students here, finding tenants is never a problem,

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but renting to the youth market is not without its challenges.

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I have to incorporate damage because they do wreck your houses.

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So I've had students iron on the carpet, right?

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And they think, "Oh, I've burnt it.

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"I'll tell you what I'll do, I will move the bed over that,"

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or, "I'll put a rug over it."

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The worst, oh, my goodness,

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I came to check up on a student and she'd gone to bed,

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she'd left the gas stove on and it had blown out.

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Oh, five bedrooms.

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Ben now uses letting agents

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so he doesn't have to deal directly with issues from his tenants.

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I do feel a little bit disconnected from the tenants

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and I do wish I could engage more with them.

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To reconnect, Ben will be moving into one of his student rentals

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for a week, living with the students and on their budget.

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I'm going to carry some tools with me.

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Some screwdrivers, a clamp and a hammer.

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A plunger - that's just in case.

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I'm very nervous, actually.

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I was OK about it until last night and then I was, like, "Crap!"

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I've got to go and live with students!

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I'm worried about being a parent and having to say,

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"Come on, this is four nights in a row

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"that you've been out drinking and partying,"

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or just, I don't know, they'll be talking crap to me as well.

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Ben will be moving into this house in Egham.

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Originally a four-bed family home,

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Ben converted the garage and a living room and it's now shared

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by six students, each paying a monthly rent of £433.

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I wasn't thinking, I just poured the whole can of tomatoes in.

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One of them is 20-year-old Tilly.

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This is the first house I've ever rented myself.

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It's the first place I've ever lived without parents.

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But it is a daunting experience. You don't really know what's going on.

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You're obviously constantly calling your parents, saying,

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"Is this right? Am I paying the right amount?"

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Rents in Egham are twice the national average,

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and roughly the same whether it's a professional or student let.

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Overall, we pay £2,600 a month, which is a lot of money,

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so you wouldn't expect to have the basic problems that we have.

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PUMP WHIRS

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That's the sound of the water pump and that's not even hot water,

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that's cold water.

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So whenever anyone flushes the toilet in the night

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or whenever anyone's showering, whenever anyone's washing

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their hands or does the washing-up we get this constant noise.

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WHIRRING CONTINUES

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Someone's obviously washing their hands downstairs.

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We complained about it quite a lot when we first moved in

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and the advice we were given by our maintenance company

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was to not shower at night-time.

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When they moved in, Ben said work would be done on the garden.

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We were promised it would take no more than 30 hours of work, but, um,

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a year later and still can't really use the whole garden,

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which is infuriating because if they hadn't hired gardeners,

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we would have just done it ourselves and it wouldn't look pretty,

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but we'd have just been able to use it.

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Often when you're using the hob,

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one of the rings will just turn up to the highest heat

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and it won't turn off.

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So that now is... I can't even put my hand there, it's so hot.

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It's burning my face!

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And we have reported it and they said we need a new one,

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but it's never been fixed and we just sort of live with it.

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The students have also had issues with security.

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The amount of times I've woken up with maintenance men in the house.

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Like, they've knocked on my door,

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I've been asleep at eight o'clock in the morning and they've, like,

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knocked on my door, and I'm like, "Who the hell is this man?"

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Like, when I was here on my own because I was working

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and everyone was back home, so that's happened many times.

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And people just... You call them and they'll say,

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"I don't know who sent them."

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For Tilly, making the decision

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to come to university wasn't an easy one.

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Ultimately, the aim is to teach philosophy,

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obviously to be a teacher you have to have a degree.

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But it was something I did have to think about financially.

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I come from a single parent background.

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And I rely solely on my loans.

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I'll be leaving university with about 54 grand in debt, which is

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obviously quite a substantial amount of debt to be left with.

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It's a big weight to carry on your shoulders and you don't know

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how it's going to affect you in the rest of your life.

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-Hello. Do you want waffles or toast?

-Waffles.

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To help limit the debt,

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Tilly works at student union events whenever she can,

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but still has just £8 a day to live on.

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After tuition fees, my rent is my biggest outgoing, absolutely.

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I think students are potentially dealt with as just a moneymaker.

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There's no concern about things that are going wrong.

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I guess it's because they expect students

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to be these people that just party all the time, and just get drunk

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all the time and wreck the houses and it just isn't the case.

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There's been such a shift in the university experience

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with tuition fees.

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If we're now having to pay for this experience and pay to get a degree

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and live in debt for the rest of our lives,

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then maybe the houses that we live in should step up with that as well.

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So their landlord can experience the property as a house share,

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Tilly and two of the other tenants will be living alongside him

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while Ben moves into a bedroom vacated for the summer.

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Right, Spring Rise, Egham.

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My goodness!

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It is like an unusual adventure for me.

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I'm excited, but also apprehensive.

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It will give me some great insights.

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If all the problems were dealt with,

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it has potential to be a fantastic house, but until then,

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unfortunately, I don't know if it ever will be.

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Maybe I don't want those insights, that's my concern.

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Cos it means I have to do something about it.

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-Hello.

-Hey.

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-Hiya.

-Hi.

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-Tilly?

-Nice to see you, Ben.

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How are you? I've got wet hands.

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-I'm Poppy.

-I'm Georgia.

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It's nice to meet you.

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What years are you guys?

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So we've all just finished second year.

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-Cool!

-You own quite a few houses here, don't you?

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I have a few houses in this area, yeah.

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Are they all student houses?

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Well, I only like students.

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Well, I used to do it myself, I used to manage the properties myself,

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but it just got too much for me.

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Do make yourself at home. We're cooking dinner now,

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so you're welcome to cook with us.

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-Can I get a pot? Would that be all right?

-Mm-hm.

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Of course you can. What's mine is yours, Ben.

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Thank you. Thank you so much.

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Something is burning.

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-I think it's...

-I think it's the hob. Can you smell that?

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Yeah, I can. I can feel it from over here.

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So how do I turn it down?

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-You can't.

-You can't when it's like this.

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The rings sort of have a life of their own sometimes.

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I just don't know if it's safe to leave it on.

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When did this happen? Was it recent?

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No, it's been happening for a long time, but, yeah,

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we have had two electricians come around and look at it.

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They didn't do anything?

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Well, they told us that they told the letting agency

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that we needed a new one.

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And the letting agent didn't do anything?

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That was months ago, so, yeah.

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I'm concerned. And quite angry with the letting agent

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for not dealing with something which is potentially quite dangerous.

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Anything to do with gas and electricity

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must be done very, very quickly.

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This really worries me.

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-Yeah.

-Seriously, it really worries me.

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Cos if this is happening to you guys,

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it's probably happening to some of my other properties as well.

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I mean, there's been, like, a few issues.

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Some of them haven't been dealt with.

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-Some of them have. Some have taken a while to be dealt with.

-Right.

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-I'm sure we'll... We can explore them as the days go on.

-Right. OK.

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200 miles north, another landlord

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is about to move into his tenant's home.

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Proud Polish millionaire.

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That is the label I should be happy with.

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Polish-born Paul moved to the UK 13 years ago

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with just a couple of hundred pounds in his pocket.

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I'm proud that I achieved everything myself by my hard work and my brain,

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basically. That's what I think. Yeah.

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Hi, guys. How you doing? You all right?

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I just love the UK from the perspective

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that it's a very open country, very easy to do business with people.

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When I first came to the UK my English was very, very little.

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Very, very basic.

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I start work first in the bar, just doing part-time job.

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Years later, after training as a mortgage broker,

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Paul and his business partner, Adam, made a fortune

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helping foreign investors buy into the booming UK property market.

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We going to get this building

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and we want to do the bar here in the very near future.

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The perception of Polish people in this country is they all work

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in factories, they all working for minimum wage.

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They're cleaners, which is not true.

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Many Poles who live in this country

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are running very successful multimillion pound businesses.

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They're employing many people, sometimes in hundreds.

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And they are paying thousands of pounds in taxes and doing very well.

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When Paul and Adam realised the growing demand for rentals,

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they started to buy up houses to let out themselves.

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Most are in Greater Manchester -

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the second most populated urban area in the whole of Britain.

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And as demand for property rises, so do the rents.

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We try to be expensive because if the rent is high,

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usually we get better tenants and we're trying to provide

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better quality properties to our tenants.

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As Paul's main business focus remains foreign investment deals,

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he spends most of his time travelling abroad,

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leaving him little time for the basics.

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I'm very busy person.

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I don't have time. I have a stylist who is buying for me.

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It takes me hours to, for example, find the right shoes.

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So, if someone can do this for me, that's brilliant.

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-I think a powerful colour. It works well.

-Thank you.

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I definitely going to say I got more into business,

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less into personal life

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for simple reason that I'm single.

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I don't have a partner.

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There we go. Yeah.

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But one person he always makes time for is his five-year-old daughter.

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It's lovely weather today.

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Daddy might buy you ice cream.

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But my mum says I'm not allowed ice cream.

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Oh, no worry.

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We're going to do it.

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Motivation is my daughter.

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I just want to give her a piece of my future empire.

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Yeah? Lovely one.

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Unfortunately we are not family with her mum.

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-You want some bubbles?

-Yeah, bubbles, bubbles.

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However, in any occasion I could do I literally spending time with her

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and trying to be like good dad.

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Paul was so determined to stay close to his daughter,

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he bought the house next door to her mum.

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I could afford it. I was very lucky that I can see her any time I want.

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Wow!

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So, in that way, it's very convenient for me

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and it's a lovely house as well, so that's why I'm happy.

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When it comes to choosing tenants, Paul is motivated

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by his own experience when he first arrived in the UK.

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Most of my tenants are foreigners.

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They are new arrivals who are just starting life here.

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It's very difficult to get into the property market

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because of the reference checks and background checks.

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Many landlords say, "No, no, no, sorry, we don't want this client."

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We're taking the risk.

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We're trying to help people, accommodate them.

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Someone Paul has accommodated is Olegario Santos,

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who moved his family from Portugal to Manchester two years ago.

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Daddy.

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Mama.

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In Portugal, the economy is not too great.

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People there, they have big problem to find job.

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England, you can find many opportunity -

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jobs and education is more easy, I think.

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His wife, Solange, is a business graduate and a stay-at-home mum,

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while Olegario works full-time as a cleaner in a factory.

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It's not my dream job,

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but it gives me what I need now to support my family.

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When they moved to the UK, they struggled to find a landlord

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who would rent a decent home to them.

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Most houses we see is not good price

0:16:540:16:57

and the condition, very, very bad.

0:16:570:17:00

They don't care. If they don't rent to you,

0:17:000:17:03

they're going to rent to another person.

0:17:030:17:05

Seven months ago, they were introduced to Paul's company

0:17:060:17:10

and offered this three-bed terrace

0:17:100:17:12

on the outskirts of Manchester for £625 a month.

0:17:120:17:16

When I saw the first time, I loved the space, it's big.

0:17:160:17:20

I decided to rent that house.

0:17:200:17:22

Goal!

0:17:220:17:24

But when they moved in, there were several problems waiting for them.

0:17:240:17:27

This is danger place, this garden.

0:17:290:17:32

Because, look, I don't know what is this.

0:17:320:17:34

This is all rubbish the landlord left.

0:17:360:17:38

If you can see, it's not properly fixed.

0:17:410:17:44

All this carpet here, put nails here,

0:17:450:17:47

because when they came is all out.

0:17:470:17:49

Once I trip on it.

0:17:490:17:52

I can broke my legs.

0:17:530:17:54

If I broke my legs, how will I pay the rent?

0:17:540:17:56

A month after moving in, a more serious problem began to emerge

0:17:580:18:02

in the living room and the main bedroom.

0:18:020:18:05

This is a big problem I have in this main bedroom.

0:18:050:18:08

If you see the walls, it's very, very wet.

0:18:080:18:10

I have damp from mould here.

0:18:100:18:12

To make matters worse...

0:18:150:18:17

The window is broken.

0:18:170:18:19

..the lack of ventilation means damp lingers in the air.

0:18:190:18:22

We tried to keep some clothes here.

0:18:220:18:25

This box, after the washing, but the smell is still there.

0:18:250:18:31

Exposure to mould can cause allergic reactions

0:18:310:18:34

and the family believe it's affecting the children's health.

0:18:340:18:38

The baby's with allergy.

0:18:380:18:41

You can see the allergy.

0:18:410:18:43

It's very bad for our children.

0:18:430:18:45

I feel sad, and you're in a low income,

0:18:460:18:50

so you can't afford for a better house.

0:18:500:18:53

Look, it's wet.

0:18:540:18:55

Since moving in, seven months ago, the family have spent over £200

0:18:550:18:59

on products to clean the mould and a dehumidifier.

0:18:590:19:03

Every day I take three litres of the water.

0:19:030:19:05

I don't speak too much English.

0:19:080:19:10

I don't understand what things work here.

0:19:100:19:12

Despite sending text messages to Paul's business partner, Adam,

0:19:120:19:16

they are waiting for all the problems to be resolved.

0:19:160:19:19

I don't know the law.

0:19:190:19:20

I don't know who I should ask for help.

0:19:200:19:22

Say you rent house, but you don't complain.

0:19:220:19:24

I just pay because I don't have a choice.

0:19:250:19:28

He's hoping that if Paul experiences living in his home, it will help him

0:19:280:19:32

realise the extent of the work needed.

0:19:320:19:35

Bye, Zizi.

0:19:350:19:36

I think they deserve better, no?

0:19:360:19:38

Because when we father, we try to fight to give our children the best.

0:19:380:19:44

Bye.

0:19:440:19:45

I want to be prepared for everything, so I don't know.

0:19:480:19:50

I'm taking T-shirts, I'm taking this stuff, so everything,

0:19:500:19:54

to make sure I'm... I'm ready.

0:19:540:19:57

Sometimes I feel that I'm a little bit losing the contact with reality.

0:19:570:20:02

When you've had success, when you get money,

0:20:020:20:04

then you start losing common sense in your life,

0:20:040:20:07

so maybe if I can be again for at least few days with living the life

0:20:070:20:12

of the tenant, then it will help me to be the better person.

0:20:120:20:16

And he's about to find out which of his 31 properties

0:20:160:20:21

he'll be moving into.

0:20:210:20:23

Oh! Wow!

0:20:230:20:24

Stirling Bridge. Nice!

0:20:260:20:28

It's nice property. They're good tenants.

0:20:300:20:32

They pay rent on time.

0:20:320:20:33

I've never met them before.

0:20:330:20:35

Never spoke with them.

0:20:350:20:36

There's Peppa, Zizi.

0:20:380:20:39

THEY BABBLE

0:20:390:20:41

While Paul moves into their home,

0:20:410:20:43

Olegario and his family will move into a nearby serviced apartment...

0:20:430:20:48

-She's asleep.

-They will wake up in a better home.

-Yeah, yeah.

0:20:480:20:53

..and they'll meet Paul at the end of his stay.

0:20:530:20:57

Wow!

0:20:570:20:58

-It's beautiful!

-Beautiful!

0:20:580:21:00

Smell of fresh air.

0:21:000:21:01

Nice place!

0:21:030:21:05

Isn't it, girls?

0:21:050:21:06

Wow! It's going to be good.

0:21:090:21:11

I'm just going into the like lovely three-bedroom house.

0:21:110:21:14

Paul hasn't set foot in this property

0:21:140:21:16

since buying it nearly a year ago.

0:21:160:21:18

Few months ago there had some issues with the roof there,

0:21:180:21:21

so we just replaced parts of roof.

0:21:210:21:22

I don't know what the stage is now, not been there,

0:21:220:21:25

but I think it's going to be OK, at least.

0:21:250:21:28

OK. Yeah. Finally here, yeah.

0:21:340:21:36

OK, kitchen. Yeah.

0:21:360:21:38

We need some decorating work to do.

0:21:380:21:40

There's the garden. Oh, garden is fine.

0:21:410:21:45

Some cleaning, maybe.

0:21:450:21:46

It's all OK. Nothing wrong with it, to be honest.

0:21:480:21:50

Yeah.

0:21:500:21:51

Oh, wow, a letter for me.

0:21:530:21:54

"Dear landlord, welcome to our home.

0:21:560:22:00

"Please put the dehumidifier

0:22:000:22:02

"in the bedroom first thing in the morning.

0:22:020:22:05

"Please be careful, the carpet is loose and it's easy to trip,

0:22:050:22:09

"especially for children.

0:22:090:22:11

"We hope you enjoy our home.

0:22:110:22:13

"All the best, Santos family."

0:22:130:22:15

Oh, wow!

0:22:150:22:16

Oh! Wow!

0:22:200:22:22

That's the bad boy!

0:22:220:22:24

When we purchased this house around a year ago,

0:22:240:22:27

everything was all right,

0:22:270:22:28

but then during the wintertime we had issues in the roof and we start

0:22:280:22:33

getting water inside to the property.

0:22:330:22:36

We replaced parts in the roof.

0:22:360:22:38

However, we still need to just redecorate with wallpaper,

0:22:380:22:42

it's all to do.

0:22:420:22:44

It's a nice sized bedroom, to be honest.

0:22:440:22:45

Master wise, it's very good.

0:22:450:22:47

While Paul's living in his tenant's home,

0:22:480:22:50

he'll have to survive on their budget.

0:22:500:22:53

63 quid!

0:22:530:22:54

As he's on his own, he's been given half their weekly amount.

0:22:540:22:58

OK. It's like being unemployed again.

0:22:580:23:01

That's one bill for restaurant with one pint of beer.

0:23:010:23:05

It's hard. It's very hard, to be honest.

0:23:050:23:07

Definitely not designer,

0:23:070:23:09

definitely not travelling around the world every day.

0:23:090:23:13

Paul's usual weekly outgoings are around £900.

0:23:150:23:19

I don't have a clue what to buy.

0:23:190:23:20

I just, you know, walk around and just see what I can find cheap.

0:23:200:23:26

"Deep delicious." OK. That's deep delicious. I want a thin and crispy.

0:23:280:23:32

I'm going to buy this and take the meat out. I'm not eat meat,

0:23:320:23:36

but still be better to pay £2 without meat, yeah?

0:23:360:23:40

Hi, boss, you all right? Yeah?

0:23:410:23:42

I used to live on very similar kind of money.

0:23:420:23:45

It is possible.

0:23:450:23:46

It's just a different way of life.

0:23:460:23:48

-The peppers was...

-£1.59.

-Yeah.

0:23:480:23:51

-£1.59.

-That's fine. Yeah, that's fine.

0:23:510:23:54

To say, do I want to live on that kind of budget on a daily basis?

0:23:540:23:58

The simple answer is no.

0:23:580:23:59

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

0:23:590:24:01

-Have a good day, yeah.

-See you again.

-Cheers. See you.

0:24:010:24:03

How's your food, Ben?

0:24:060:24:08

Mmm. It's great.

0:24:080:24:11

-Yeah?

-Yeah, I like coloured cheese.

0:24:110:24:14

In Surrey, Ben's also living on his tenants' budget of £56 a week.

0:24:140:24:20

I mean, do you guys have alcohol and stuff like that?

0:24:200:24:22

I'd much rather spend money on food than I would on alcohol.

0:24:220:24:25

-Oh, cool!

-Yeah.

0:24:250:24:26

Have you, like, got jobs over the summer?

0:24:260:24:28

I'm staying here the whole summer.

0:24:280:24:30

-Wow!

-Yeah. It's because I didn't see the point in wasting the rent money

0:24:300:24:34

and I've got a job working as a... behind the bar at a pub.

0:24:340:24:37

And I've got a few other jobs, like events and stuff planned.

0:24:370:24:40

Wow! You are an entrepreneurial person.

0:24:400:24:42

The housemates, I think they're pretty awesome.

0:24:430:24:47

They seem to have all got some kind of summer job -

0:24:470:24:50

that's kind of a mature thing to do,

0:24:500:24:52

so they don't seem to be particularly spoilt,

0:24:520:24:55

let's put it that way.

0:24:550:24:56

So I'm a bit bewildered and confused

0:24:560:24:58

because I expected a different kind of household

0:24:580:25:02

and I did expect them to be out late tonight.

0:25:020:25:06

It's washing-up time.

0:25:060:25:07

-Shall we get out the way?

-I think I might get into my pyjamas.

0:25:070:25:10

Oh, what time do you guys go to bed at?

0:25:100:25:13

-I'd normally be asleep by nine, nine-thirty.

-Wow!

0:25:130:25:16

Impossible!

0:25:160:25:17

Students do not go to bed this early!

0:25:170:25:20

But the girls seem to be doing it.

0:25:200:25:24

200 miles away...

0:25:320:25:33

I feel like a stranger in someone's place.

0:25:350:25:38

It's just weird.

0:25:380:25:39

..the realities of tenant life are sinking in.

0:25:390:25:42

I can't really go anywhere because I don't have any money.

0:25:420:25:46

So I'm literally prisoner here.

0:25:460:25:48

There's a little smell in the room because of the wetness.

0:25:570:26:00

But after, like, half an hour I just forget about it

0:26:000:26:05

and don't feel it any more. Yeah? So, it's all right. Yeah.

0:26:050:26:08

There is some problem.

0:26:110:26:12

It's damaged this one, that's why.

0:26:150:26:17

It just needs to be replaced, all this.

0:26:170:26:19

Myself, being the tenant,

0:26:190:26:21

I'd take out these old dirty blinds and stuff,

0:26:210:26:25

clean up here basically,

0:26:250:26:27

replace the door handle in B&Q for £5 and then after if you don't

0:26:270:26:30

put this for, like, three days, all this wall be dry already, yeah?

0:26:300:26:34

So, are you saying they can do it themselves?

0:26:340:26:37

When I meet the family, I'm not going to be attacking them,

0:26:370:26:39

like blaming them or judge them in any way.

0:26:390:26:41

Maybe they just don't know things which I know,

0:26:410:26:44

so I'm more than happy to help.

0:26:440:26:46

That's why we provided discount in the rent.

0:26:460:26:49

Now the tenant paying £200 less.

0:26:490:26:52

From our perspective, we're losing more than them.

0:26:520:26:56

Two months after Olegario first complained about the mould,

0:26:570:27:00

Paul's team found a leak in the roof

0:27:000:27:02

and offered the family alternative accommodation.

0:27:020:27:05

I didn't like the house.

0:27:050:27:07

It's 25 minutes from my work.

0:27:070:27:10

So, they called me, said, "We'll reduce the rent to £400."

0:27:100:27:15

Three months later, the roof was fixed.

0:27:150:27:17

But the family are still waiting for the remaining damp

0:27:180:27:21

and their other complaints to be dealt with.

0:27:210:27:23

Is it normal to take so long when people report a problem?

0:27:240:27:27

So far, most contact

0:27:280:27:30

has been through Paul's business partner, Adam.

0:27:300:27:33

-What's that?

-It might be a cellar.

0:27:350:27:38

Paul's asked him to come and take a look at the property for himself.

0:27:380:27:41

Oh, don't touch it!

0:27:410:27:43

Health and safety!

0:27:430:27:44

I'm not looking over there.

0:27:460:27:47

There might be some dead bodies!

0:27:470:27:48

-That's the cellar.

-I'm just playing around now, but that's not safe,

0:27:490:27:53

definitely for kids.

0:27:530:27:54

Just remove that, put some grass in.

0:27:540:27:57

Who is that rubbish? It's ours?

0:27:570:28:00

Yeah. I think that's builders left.

0:28:000:28:02

So fence,

0:28:020:28:04

I mean, you need to take those three off probably and put a new one.

0:28:040:28:08

Which ones? No, the fence are...

0:28:080:28:09

These ones are OK.

0:28:090:28:10

Why you need to change them? We can't as well go too much into it,

0:28:100:28:13

because we already losing money on that property. So if we add another,

0:28:130:28:17

another, another cost, we're not increasing rent.

0:28:170:28:20

But bear in mind you want to increase value a little bit as well.

0:28:200:28:22

The fences and this type of paint, then, that's it, yeah.

0:28:220:28:25

I think I would worry first about my kids.

0:28:260:28:30

It's not safe, like, looking at the garden.

0:28:300:28:32

It's not safe. With garden, with full respect,

0:28:320:28:35

we should have done a better job.

0:28:350:28:37

Shall we go upstairs, then?

0:28:370:28:38

-Yes.

-Yeah.

0:28:380:28:39

Carpet, is nothing wrong with it.

0:28:390:28:41

It just needs to be glued properly into the stairs.

0:28:410:28:44

-That's all.

-Carpet.

0:28:440:28:45

I know it's not the top quality one.

0:28:450:28:47

It's good one. Don't worry.

0:28:470:28:49

It's not about quality, it's about that it doesn't fit properly.

0:28:490:28:51

That's all. So, let's see the main bedroom.

0:28:510:28:54

So that's the biggest issue in this property.

0:28:550:28:58

-Oh, yeah.

-It's the wall here and the wet.

0:28:580:29:01

You can smell damp here.

0:29:010:29:03

There's no two ways about it.

0:29:030:29:04

Yeah, I can feel... I can feel it's very, very wet.

0:29:040:29:08

-But, yeah, it's not very healthy.

-Yeah, the tenants are living

0:29:100:29:15

in these conditions since around March, yeah, so...

0:29:150:29:18

Or even slightly longer, yeah.

0:29:180:29:20

I'm not sure when they initially, you know,

0:29:200:29:23

said that there's something happening.

0:29:230:29:26

As far as I know, the property was very, very good

0:29:260:29:28

at that time when they moved in.

0:29:280:29:30

That's the reason they move in in first place.

0:29:300:29:32

But by the time, you know, went by, because there was the winter,

0:29:320:29:36

you know, the rain, et cetera, it just...

0:29:360:29:38

Property started to get worse, worse, worse, worse.

0:29:380:29:41

It's not safe. And doesn't smell right.

0:29:410:29:45

I'm not sure how did they survive?

0:29:450:29:48

If I were tenant, I'd probably look for other property straightaway.

0:29:480:29:52

But obviously they've got limited budget.

0:29:520:29:55

Like Olegario,

0:29:570:29:58

over six million people in Britain are living with mould and damp,

0:29:580:30:02

which can lead to skin rashes, eczema and trigger asthma attacks.

0:30:020:30:07

-Delicious!

-Delicious!

0:30:090:30:11

Living in the apartment is providing welcome respite

0:30:110:30:15

for Olegario's family.

0:30:150:30:17

-We can...

-Relax.

-..relax.

0:30:170:30:19

-And chill out.

-And enjoy - enjoy our family here.

0:30:190:30:22

Now I don't have to worry to clean the walls,

0:30:220:30:25

so I can let my daughters play around, no problem.

0:30:250:30:29

The girls, they are happy here.

0:30:290:30:31

And after two days away,

0:30:330:30:35

Olegario is more keen than ever to find a permanent mould-free home.

0:30:350:30:39

Good morning. I'm calling because I'm look for apartment to rent.

0:30:390:30:44

You can leave it with us. We have a lot of people

0:30:440:30:46

-that want to view this property.

-A lot of people. OK.

0:30:460:30:49

-Thank you. Have a nice day. Thank you.

-Bye-bye. Thank you.

0:30:490:30:52

The number of people looking for private rentals

0:30:540:30:56

in Greater Manchester has tripled over the past two years,

0:30:560:31:00

making competition for decent homes high.

0:31:000:31:03

This is Olegario Santos.

0:31:030:31:06

I'm calling up...

0:31:060:31:07

LINE GOES DEAD

0:31:070:31:08

They hung up the phone.

0:31:120:31:13

Sometimes this happens, yeah. They don't want to speak.

0:31:130:31:17

It's a nightmare, yeah,

0:31:190:31:20

because the house I live is big problem,

0:31:200:31:25

to try to find a house to rent is big problem.

0:31:250:31:28

So I don't know what I should do.

0:31:280:31:31

I don't want to live in the street with my daughters.

0:31:310:31:35

PUMP WHIRS

0:31:430:31:45

In Egham, it's not the sound of partying that's woken Ben up.

0:31:450:31:49

WHIRRING CONTINUES

0:31:510:31:53

When the water in this house is turned on,

0:31:530:31:56

there is a loud noise which you can hear.

0:31:560:31:59

This is a water pump for this house because the water pressure here

0:31:590:32:04

in this area is very low.

0:32:040:32:07

So really they should only have this switch on

0:32:070:32:09

when they're having a shower, otherwise they can leave it off.

0:32:090:32:13

And you can see that the amount of water coming out of this tap

0:32:180:32:22

is much less. This is good enough for washing hands, washing teeth,

0:32:220:32:28

going to the toilet, but it's not a good pressure for having a shower.

0:32:280:32:31

Why there's no water coming out?

0:32:410:32:43

There's literally no pressure at all on there.

0:32:430:32:45

I think it's because Ben's turned the water pump off,

0:32:450:32:47

to make sure there's no sound.

0:32:470:32:49

So I'm going to turn it back on.

0:32:490:32:51

He clearly wants us to just turn it on when we want to have a shower.

0:32:530:32:56

That's not a solution.

0:32:560:32:58

Obviously, we could live with just turning it on

0:32:580:33:00

if the taps had enough pressure in themselves, but they don't.

0:33:000:33:02

Now it's a normal amount of water coming out the tap,

0:33:040:33:06

it's not a trickle and the shower...

0:33:060:33:08

..the shower's back to being a fully pressured shower.

0:33:100:33:13

It just seems ludicrous.

0:33:130:33:14

That is so inconvenient and I'm not paying £433 a month

0:33:160:33:21

to have to turn a pump on whenever I want to wash up

0:33:210:33:24

or whenever I want to boil a kettle, like that isn't...

0:33:240:33:27

It's not how a household should work.

0:33:270:33:30

Student rents have soared by 20% in the last five years -

0:33:320:33:36

over double the increase than in the rest of the private rental sector.

0:33:360:33:39

Ben saw the potential early

0:33:400:33:42

and now owns eight student houses in this area alone.

0:33:420:33:46

Having spent some time with the students,

0:33:480:33:52

I'm very keen to see what's going on in some of the other houses.

0:33:520:33:57

See whether the students are getting some great value

0:33:570:34:00

from the letting agent, which I'm concerned about.

0:34:000:34:03

Most are traditional family-style homes, like this three-bed one,

0:34:030:34:08

which Ben rents to four students, each paying £437 a month.

0:34:080:34:12

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Hi, I'm Ben.

0:34:140:34:16

I'm your landlord.

0:34:170:34:18

Richard has lived here for two years,

0:34:180:34:21

but this is the first time he's met Ben.

0:34:210:34:24

-Have you had any issues?

-We've had one or two.

0:34:240:34:26

-The major ones seem to have been sorted out.

-Right.

0:34:260:34:28

So we've had a new boiler.

0:34:280:34:29

Oh, right. OK.

0:34:290:34:30

-That was put in.

-Yeah, wow!

0:34:300:34:32

Yes, that is a new boiler.

0:34:320:34:34

The only thing to say is the decor wasn't built around it again.

0:34:340:34:37

Yeah. I'll speak to them about the decor.

0:34:370:34:39

It is a bit unsightly.

0:34:390:34:40

Was there anything else?

0:34:400:34:42

-The toilet flooded. And the estate agent did fix it...

-Right.

0:34:420:34:45

..but the roof collapsed a bit.

0:34:450:34:47

-Oh!

-Look up there.

0:34:470:34:49

Oh, yeah! So we need to do some redecoration there as well.

0:34:490:34:52

-Right.

-Probably just one more thing.

0:34:540:34:55

The garden. We moved in it was a bit wild.

0:34:550:34:58

The grass was up to about here.

0:34:580:34:59

-Right.

-And we didn't have any of the tools to deal with it.

0:34:590:35:02

Yeah. Did you report it?

0:35:020:35:03

Yeah. When we moved in we reported it.

0:35:030:35:05

They said they'd refer it to you.

0:35:050:35:07

No. I didn't get it.

0:35:070:35:09

Yeah.

0:35:090:35:10

-Yes.

-I'm not sure they're too responsive.

0:35:100:35:13

I think the e-mails get lost.

0:35:130:35:14

Cos we're students

0:35:160:35:18

I think the estate agents think this is acceptable.

0:35:180:35:20

I don't think they take us too seriously.

0:35:200:35:22

If we come back with a complaint,

0:35:220:35:23

they'll take a couple of weeks to get back to us

0:35:230:35:26

and even then it's lucky if they do anything.

0:35:260:35:28

At the end of the day, it is the landlord's house.

0:35:280:35:31

And if the letting agent isn't doing anything, they need to sort it out.

0:35:310:35:33

University students are sometimes adults and sometimes kids.

0:35:340:35:38

They are naive and they're not street-wise

0:35:380:35:41

and the estate agent is using

0:35:410:35:44

their street-wiseness against them.

0:35:440:35:46

-INTERVIEWER:

-Should you perhaps keep a bit more of an eye

0:35:460:35:48

on the letting agent as the landlord?

0:35:480:35:50

We have full maintenance with this letting agent,

0:35:500:35:53

and so we pay for that and that's what we should get.

0:35:530:35:57

Now, the whole point about having a full maintenance contract

0:35:570:36:01

is so I don't have to get involved.

0:36:010:36:03

It frees up my time to do other, more productive things.

0:36:030:36:07

All of Ben's student lets in this area are managed by an agency

0:36:080:36:13

that charge him 6% of his rental income.

0:36:130:36:15

-Hi there.

-Hi.

-Ben. You all right?

0:36:150:36:18

Postgraduate student Clem shares with two others

0:36:180:36:22

and has lived here almost a year.

0:36:220:36:24

-Any things that you think could be sorted out?

-Yeah. Yeah.

0:36:240:36:28

Clem's rent is £650 a month.

0:36:280:36:31

So the main problem is the mould on the ceiling.

0:36:310:36:35

I don't know if you've seen any pictures of it.

0:36:350:36:37

-No.

-That has been there since I pretty much moved in

0:36:370:36:42

and I've contacted the management throughout the year, really.

0:36:420:36:45

How many times have you contacted the management?

0:36:450:36:47

Probably two or three times maybe.

0:36:470:36:50

And one of the handymen that they employ

0:36:500:36:54

has said this has all got to come down.

0:36:540:36:57

But you said that this is probably the first time

0:36:570:36:59

-you've ever seen this.

-Yeah, this is the first time.

0:36:590:37:02

That's not, that's not the impression I got from the handyman, though.

0:37:020:37:05

Cos he said that he quoted it towards the management people

0:37:050:37:10

and I don't know what the communication problem is in there,

0:37:100:37:13

but I would have thought...

0:37:130:37:15

Well, I would have thought that you probably would know about it

0:37:150:37:18

and do something about it. I'm paying £650.

0:37:180:37:20

It's not ideal to have lived with this for the whole year, really.

0:37:200:37:26

I actually don't think he has a problem with the mould

0:37:260:37:29

or any of the things. I think he has a problem that he's paying

0:37:290:37:31

a certain amount and he expected something different.

0:37:310:37:35

I mean, is he right to expect something different

0:37:350:37:37

for £650 a month?

0:37:370:37:39

I think it's average for this kind of area.

0:37:390:37:41

It's going to cost us to deal with that mould, so some of the rental,

0:37:410:37:46

the prices that the letting agents have put in is to deal with, er,

0:37:460:37:51

issues like that with the students.

0:37:510:37:53

Is a letting agent's job to get the maximum they can for the landlord?

0:37:530:37:59

No, it's the letting agent's job

0:37:590:38:01

to get us the maximum they can for themselves. So...

0:38:010:38:04

So if they can get...

0:38:040:38:07

rent out properties at a higher rates, then they'll do that.

0:38:070:38:11

Thank you.

0:38:110:38:12

I feel like he's passing the blame on a little bit.

0:38:120:38:15

I mean, he owns the house.

0:38:150:38:16

Surely he should know a little bit about it, maybe.

0:38:160:38:19

Oh, rain!

0:38:280:38:29

Although Paul is living in his tenants' home,

0:38:290:38:32

he's not missing an opportunity to spend time with his daughter.

0:38:320:38:35

So what was the story yesterday, Zoe?

0:38:350:38:38

I was playing with Lego.

0:38:380:38:40

What did you build?

0:38:400:38:41

-A house.

-A house!

0:38:410:38:43

You might be a landlord in the future.

0:38:440:38:45

You never know!

0:38:470:38:48

-Are we here yet?

-We are here.

0:38:500:38:52

Here, come on, for the garden.

0:38:540:38:55

Oh, what a big garden, yeah?

0:38:580:39:01

Yeah.

0:39:010:39:02

-There we go.

-It's a mess.

0:39:020:39:04

You maybe fall down in the rocks.

0:39:050:39:09

So, yeah?

0:39:090:39:10

It's not beautiful.

0:39:100:39:14

No, it's not really best place, to be honest, to play with kids,

0:39:140:39:17

because there's so much rubbish around, yeah.

0:39:170:39:19

It's large, large garden.

0:39:190:39:21

So, it's a good place to be... to play around but not now, yeah.

0:39:210:39:26

Something was moving and I think it was a spider.

0:39:260:39:31

Oh, a spider! Let's go!

0:39:310:39:33

Spider! Come on!

0:39:330:39:35

Wow! This house has loads of toys.

0:39:390:39:44

I am going...

0:39:440:39:46

Oh, boing!

0:39:460:39:49

Just be careful on the stairs.

0:39:490:39:51

No, no, don't go to the stairs now. No, no.

0:39:510:39:55

-Oops, I broke a step.

-It's not broken, it is just, er...

0:39:550:39:59

-excess of carpet, but come on.

-Broken carpet.

0:39:590:40:03

Broken carpet.

0:40:030:40:05

What?

0:40:050:40:06

Ah!

0:40:060:40:07

She's very observant, to be honest.

0:40:070:40:09

She's sometimes more attention to detail than me.

0:40:090:40:13

This step is just too many cos it's actually going like this.

0:40:130:40:21

So this is the broken carpet.

0:40:210:40:25

When you are up the stairs, you are scared,

0:40:250:40:29

you hold the hanger and then you can go down.

0:40:290:40:32

The house, in the eyes of my daughter, she's just five.

0:40:340:40:39

Of course, I see now living here that, you know,

0:40:390:40:42

sometimes these small bits and pieces are just annoying

0:40:420:40:45

and they need to be fixed.

0:40:450:40:47

That's some sort of, like, you know,

0:40:470:40:49

learning child to understand the property more, yeah.

0:40:490:40:53

Whoa!

0:40:530:40:55

-Hi, Mama.

-Hello, darling.

0:41:050:41:07

In Surrey, Tilly's mum has come to visit her.

0:41:070:41:11

-How was your drive?

-Oh, very hot.

0:41:110:41:13

-But I brought you some goodies.

-Oh, thank you.

-All your favourites.

0:41:130:41:16

-Hey.

-This is my mum, Bonnie.

0:41:170:41:19

-Hello.

-Hi.

0:41:190:41:20

-How is it all going?

-Great, great.

0:41:200:41:23

I notice you have brought me some food.

0:41:230:41:24

-It's not for you, actually, it's for Tilly.

-Oh, right.

0:41:240:41:27

-I always bring her a hamper.

-Oh.

0:41:270:41:28

To help her along. It's just a natural thing to do, isn't it,

0:41:280:41:31

-to look after your daughter?

-Yeah.

0:41:310:41:34

Well, she's my second to go to university, but my first daughter.

0:41:340:41:37

So I was very sad when she left.

0:41:370:41:39

But you were in halls in the first year, weren't you?

0:41:390:41:41

-In halls, it's all there, set up.

-It's all set up for you, yeah.

0:41:410:41:44

So moving in here was the hard one.

0:41:440:41:46

Initially finding the place.

0:41:460:41:48

Finding one with all your friends.

0:41:480:41:50

One you could afford.

0:41:500:41:51

Because they are paying out a huge amount of money,

0:41:510:41:54

not only for the rent, but for their uni fees.

0:41:540:41:57

You know, they are going to walk away from here

0:41:570:41:59

in a couple of years' time with a huge debt.

0:41:590:42:01

Thousands of pounds' worth.

0:42:010:42:03

So it's very important that the accommodation

0:42:030:42:05

they're living in and paying for is up to standard.

0:42:050:42:08

-That is what I feel as a parent.

-Yeah. No, I agree with you.

0:42:080:42:11

I can't afford to pay Tilly's way through university.

0:42:110:42:14

I wish I could. That would be ideal.

0:42:140:42:16

But, unfortunately, that is not the case

0:42:160:42:18

-so Tilly has to use student loans.

-Especially as you've got three kids.

0:42:180:42:23

Yeah, I've got three at university.

0:42:230:42:25

So that's not an option, I'm afraid.

0:42:250:42:28

If it helps, my kids are in the same position.

0:42:280:42:33

-And I think it's unfair for me to pay anything for them.

-OK.

0:42:330:42:38

Probably because my parents didn't pay for me.

0:42:380:42:41

What my daughter did with her loan is she invested it

0:42:410:42:47

and she made money out of it.

0:42:470:42:50

-So was able to buy a house with saving...

-Great.

0:42:500:42:54

Just a small flat for about 40,000 or 50,000, somewhere up north,

0:42:540:42:59

and then she got rental on that.

0:42:590:43:02

-You do know every trick in the book, don't you?

-No, my daughter does.

0:43:020:43:05

-Right.

-I'm not saying that every student can do that.

0:43:050:43:08

-But that was her mind-set.

-Sounds like an exception.

0:43:080:43:11

Does it worry you, the amount you have to charge for the rent

0:43:110:43:15

on top of the fees they have to pay for uni?

0:43:150:43:17

Sure. I actually don't dictate the rent, it's the letting agents

0:43:170:43:22

-who do, and they're looking at...

-Oh, really?

0:43:220:43:24

So you don't have a say in how much you charge?

0:43:240:43:27

No, I do have a say, but what I did is I outsourced everything.

0:43:270:43:31

But surely you could say, no, you are charging too much,

0:43:310:43:35

-if you felt...

-I could... I could do that, yes.

0:43:350:43:38

Well, I am absolutely... petrified for her.

0:43:380:43:41

She's got to get a very good job to be able to pay this debt back.

0:43:410:43:44

-Yeah.

-And I am very worried.

0:43:440:43:46

-VOICEOVER:

-I sympathise with Tilly's situation.

0:43:460:43:50

When I went to university, I had a grant.

0:43:500:43:53

All my accommodation was paid for, so I think we had it much easier.

0:43:530:43:58

If I charged less rent, then I can't keep the upkeep of the house.

0:43:580:44:04

So although I sympathise with her, it's difficult for me to do anything

0:44:040:44:09

without jeopardising my own situation.

0:44:090:44:12

-Bye.

-Bye, darling.

0:44:120:44:14

It's hard to think that someone is earning out of my debt.

0:44:140:44:18

It isn't a comforting thought to know that my debt could be lessened

0:44:180:44:23

did I not have to pay that certain amount.

0:44:230:44:26

I could ask for less of a loan from the government

0:44:260:44:28

if I didn't have do pay such a substantial amount.

0:44:280:44:31

-Lovely.

-We're here.

0:44:350:44:38

Come on. Let's go.

0:44:400:44:42

After dropping his daughter back at her mum's house,

0:44:450:44:48

Paul is facing another night alone in the Santos family home.

0:44:480:44:53

I saw that they had loads of family pictures around,

0:44:530:44:56

so that indicates to me that they are very close

0:44:560:44:58

and a very traditional family and bond together to be a family...

0:44:580:45:02

..which I don't have, unfortunately.

0:45:040:45:06

And I think this is... It's because they're good people.

0:45:070:45:11

I'm thinking, to be honest, about my life.

0:45:120:45:14

Last many years I was focused too much in progress, travel, business.

0:45:140:45:18

While I just forgot personal life, need to find some partner, be happy.

0:45:190:45:23

-Oh, they look cooked, Ben.

-They're overcooked.

0:45:310:45:34

Ben's also coming to the end of his time living as a tenant.

0:45:340:45:37

-How is it?

-Cooked all the way through.

0:45:370:45:41

But the barbecue he's organised has brought further issues to light.

0:45:410:45:44

The garden has been a bit of a struggle for us.

0:45:460:45:49

When we moved in, it wasn't fantastic.

0:45:490:45:51

It's not finished yet and it is such a lovely garden,

0:45:510:45:54

it has such potential to be so beautiful.

0:45:540:45:56

The plan was to actually have it all ready for you.

0:45:560:45:59

The gardeners, we were told

0:45:590:46:00

they could only be here Monday afternoons.

0:46:000:46:02

OK. So when we first moved in,

0:46:020:46:04

obviously there was quite a few occasions

0:46:040:46:06

where someone would be woken up in the house,

0:46:060:46:08

a handyman, like, knocking on their bedroom door,

0:46:080:46:10

with no idea that they were coming.

0:46:100:46:12

Usually, it was a girl alone in the home,

0:46:120:46:14

and obviously that was quite scary.

0:46:140:46:15

And I kind of feel that there was a disregard

0:46:150:46:18

for safety from the letting agency.

0:46:180:46:19

We had no idea who was coming to our house, when, or why.

0:46:190:46:22

We've said to just come,

0:46:220:46:23

but it's this line between whether it's safe or not, and wanting

0:46:230:46:28

the garden to be done, and it's which one is a priority, I guess.

0:46:280:46:30

But even after you had said the gardeners are allowed here,

0:46:300:46:33

I was told by the agency that they couldn't be here.

0:46:330:46:36

And somewhere along the line, the ball is dropped somewhere,

0:46:360:46:39

which I think is the root of all the problems.

0:46:390:46:41

-Yeah.

-It's that we're being told it's being communicated to you,

0:46:410:46:45

and you're being told that we're being communicated with.

0:46:450:46:47

-And we are not.

-I suppose the simple option would be to just communicate

0:46:470:46:50

to one another rather than involving...

0:46:500:46:52

I know obviously you pay them the fees and stuff,

0:46:520:46:54

but, I suppose, if there is an issue,

0:46:540:46:56

maybe just communicate it to us and we can tell you what we think

0:46:560:46:59

there and then.

0:46:590:47:00

So do you think anything will actually come of this?

0:47:050:47:07

I don't know, I don't have much hope when he's just told us

0:47:070:47:11

to turn a switch off on the water pump, and that is what...

0:47:110:47:13

that is what the solution is for that.

0:47:130:47:15

I know for a fact that, if this was his house and he was living here

0:47:150:47:18

for the past year, all of these things would be fixed.

0:47:180:47:21

You know, some of the things that they pointed out

0:47:240:47:27

that the letting agent hasn't dealt with, I think, is terrible.

0:47:270:47:31

And think they've actually been over-patient, to be honest with you.

0:47:310:47:34

After a week living in his home,

0:47:410:47:43

Paul is about to meet Olegario for the very first time.

0:47:430:47:47

Currently, from a financial point of view, I'm making a loss,

0:47:470:47:50

because their rent is discounted,

0:47:500:47:52

which is, of course, not good for me.

0:47:520:47:53

Bye-bye. Mwah!

0:47:530:47:55

I think this is a good opportunity to speak to the owner.

0:47:550:47:59

If he does not understand the problem,

0:47:590:48:01

I don't know what I should do.

0:48:010:48:03

-Hello.

-Como esta? How are you doing?

-Nice, nice.

0:48:050:48:11

How has been the experience of you living in my house?

0:48:110:48:15

Of course, condition-wise, the place is not how it should be.

0:48:150:48:18

The most important for me is safety for my children.

0:48:180:48:21

The carpet on the step isn't safe.

0:48:210:48:24

But just in the one stair.

0:48:240:48:26

No, all. I have to fix it for myself.

0:48:260:48:28

Another thing worrying me is the garden, you know.

0:48:280:48:31

What do you think about the rubbish that you find there?

0:48:320:48:35

The rubbish, yeah. We need to clean the rubbish, definitely.

0:48:350:48:38

-It's not mine.

-I know. Some of the rubbish was the builders.

0:48:380:48:41

From when they start the work in the roof.

0:48:410:48:43

-No, most of the rubbish I found when I moved on the first day.

-OK.

0:48:430:48:48

The main bedroom, the walls is still very, very wet.

0:48:490:48:54

You don't think it is too long a time to do something?

0:48:540:48:57

It's actually a very quick time.

0:48:570:48:58

Wintertime, nobody really do any sort of work on the roof because

0:48:580:49:02

-it's rain.

-But in November if you had given me that information,

0:49:020:49:05

I will take my decision from here.

0:49:050:49:07

So I will find another solution for myself.

0:49:070:49:10

-It's became worse, not less.

-Yes.

0:49:100:49:12

-Like a dump.

-This is bad for me as well because it's my property,

0:49:120:49:15

-so it's just...now it's more work.

-Of course, yeah.

0:49:150:49:18

It's going to cost me now much, much more than I was previously,

0:49:180:49:21

-so I didn't know...

-For me, it's too much time.

0:49:210:49:23

I don't know if you understand. I smell the problem.

0:49:230:49:26

I have a child, I live in the property.

0:49:260:49:28

I just want to show something what happened with my little girl.

0:49:280:49:33

Look.

0:49:330:49:35

-Oh, my gosh.

-Yeah.

0:49:350:49:36

Do you think that was because of damp?

0:49:370:49:39

Yeah.

0:49:390:49:40

I didn't know that it's so bad.

0:49:420:49:44

100%, that's not perfect situation to be in.

0:49:440:49:48

It's just dangerous as well, so that's why we need to fix this now.

0:49:480:49:53

Despite the problem, I'm still very grateful.

0:49:530:49:56

It's very, very difficult to find a house to rent here.

0:49:560:49:59

I like to appreciate what you guys do for me.

0:49:590:50:02

I'm a foreigner as well in this country.

0:50:020:50:04

I was renting as well.

0:50:040:50:05

It was difficult to find any place to live because everybody said

0:50:050:50:08

I have no credit story, no work.

0:50:080:50:10

No full-time employment, you know, everything like that.

0:50:100:50:13

And they don't want to give you a property.

0:50:130:50:15

So in that way, we're trying to help.

0:50:150:50:16

I was quite upset when he showed me the pictures,

0:50:190:50:22

so it was the sort of effect of the situation in the property

0:50:220:50:26

was on his daughter, which I'm very, very ashamed of that.

0:50:260:50:30

I feel bad about that.

0:50:300:50:33

In the beginning, he was very defensive.

0:50:360:50:38

So I think when I show him the pictures of Jessica,

0:50:380:50:42

I think he tried to understand my problem.

0:50:420:50:45

I hope he fixes the problem.

0:50:450:50:47

But I only will believe when I see it.

0:50:470:50:52

After spending time in their tenants' properties,

0:50:560:51:00

the landlords are returning home.

0:51:000:51:01

A few things surprised me this week.

0:51:040:51:06

I didn't expect them to go to bed so early.

0:51:060:51:09

I learned a lot about the evolution of students,

0:51:090:51:13

where we now have loans instead of grants.

0:51:130:51:16

I just didn't realise how much of a worry it was to parents

0:51:160:51:20

as well as the students themselves.

0:51:200:51:22

Hugs, whatever.

0:51:220:51:23

-Hugs all round.

-Can I get a hug?

0:51:230:51:26

Yes. Of course you get one, too.

0:51:260:51:29

As the Americans say, don't be a stranger.

0:51:290:51:32

-OK.

-Bye, then.

-Bye.

-Bye.

-See you soon.

0:51:320:51:35

I feel differently, which is something which is strange for me.

0:51:360:51:40

I didn't expect that.

0:51:400:51:41

This meeting yesterday realised me that, for him,

0:51:410:51:45

the most important thing is home.

0:51:450:51:47

He's not expecting private jet, you know, millions in the bank account.

0:51:470:51:51

He's just expecting basically

0:51:510:51:54

a good, nice house for his family and stable job.

0:51:540:51:57

They now will decide if any changes need to be made.

0:51:590:52:02

An experience like that allowed me to be able to see the other side.

0:52:040:52:08

Many families in this country are coping on quite similar money

0:52:080:52:13

and they have to feed the children, they have to pay the bills.

0:52:130:52:17

This makes me feel very, very sorry.

0:52:170:52:19

Very...

0:52:190:52:21

Very unhappy about the situation which I created.

0:52:210:52:25

Both sets of tenants

0:52:490:52:50

have been staying with their families over the summer,

0:52:500:52:54

while the landlords have been working on their properties.

0:52:540:52:57

I'm very curious to see what he has done.

0:52:580:53:01

Yeah. It will be interesting to see.

0:53:010:53:03

What do you expect now?

0:53:050:53:06

I don't know.

0:53:070:53:09

Keep positive.

0:53:090:53:11

Yes.

0:53:110:53:12

Here we are.

0:53:150:53:16

I really want to see if we got a new hob.

0:53:200:53:22

Oh, how exciting.

0:53:220:53:24

No more fire hazards.

0:53:240:53:25

I am very, very happy with the new hob.

0:53:250:53:27

-Yeah.

-Like, that was such a health and safety hazard,

0:53:270:53:30

and we were ignored about it for so long.

0:53:300:53:33

Yeah, yeah. Happy days.

0:53:330:53:35

Oh! "Tilly and housemates."

0:53:380:53:39

"Dear Tilly, Poppy and Georgia,

0:53:410:53:43

"thank you for letting me stay with you.

0:53:430:53:45

"With regards for a pump, we're doing our best to find a solution.

0:53:450:53:48

"The cost for the materials plus work

0:53:480:53:49

"will cost between 5,000 and 7,000.

0:53:490:53:52

"I would be happy to do this, but there could be some disruption

0:53:520:53:55

"with the workmen coming in and out of the house

0:53:550:53:57

"and a loss of water service for two to four weeks.

0:53:570:53:59

"Please do let us know if you would be happy with the disruption

0:53:590:54:02

"and I will authorise the works."

0:54:020:54:04

At least he's looking into it and it would cost him a lot,

0:54:040:54:06

so I do appreciate that he'd put that much money into it.

0:54:060:54:09

Wow! Look at the stairs.

0:54:160:54:20

The carpet is new. Now it's safe to walk here.

0:54:200:54:23

I love this.

0:54:280:54:29

Wow. It's dry.

0:54:300:54:34

It smells fresh.

0:54:350:54:36

Oh, wow! I love it.

0:54:370:54:39

I did all the work to make sure the property is safe now.

0:54:390:54:42

We replaced the whole bedroom walls, where the mould previously was.

0:54:420:54:47

We painted and decorated.

0:54:470:54:49

I was hoping to spend about £2,000 maximum in the beginning,

0:54:490:54:53

but I spent 8,000.

0:54:530:54:54

Wow!

0:54:560:54:57

I don't believe this!

0:54:570:54:58

Really?

0:54:580:55:00

Oh, my God.

0:55:010:55:03

I never expected this. Totally different.

0:55:040:55:08

In the kitchen, we replaced all the units.

0:55:080:55:11

As well we replaced the floor.

0:55:110:55:13

But I go the extra mile just because Olegario's life is tough already

0:55:130:55:19

and, as a landlord, I don't want to make his life even harder.

0:55:190:55:23

Wow. I never could imagine a kitchen like this.

0:55:230:55:27

Never.

0:55:270:55:28

Oh, it is looking different, Tilly.

0:55:310:55:33

Look, lots of little plants.

0:55:330:55:34

Well, I'm quite impressed.

0:55:350:55:37

It's so much prettier.

0:55:370:55:38

-Yeah.

-It's looking much more accessible.

0:55:380:55:41

Wow. That's much better.

0:55:410:55:43

Oh, look, they've done a little feature around the tree.

0:55:430:55:46

It looks very pretty. Very thoughtfully done, I think.

0:55:460:55:49

-Yeah. No, I like it.

-Huge improvement, Tilly.

0:55:490:55:52

We are going to have a cracking garden.

0:55:520:55:54

My mistake was to assume that the letting agent

0:55:560:55:59

was working to my standard, and they weren't.

0:55:590:56:03

And so I need to get rid of my letting agent very, very quickly.

0:56:030:56:07

There's definitely improvements being made in all areas.

0:56:080:56:12

Even if it's not quite there yet, things are being looked into,

0:56:120:56:15

things are starting to get sorted.

0:56:150:56:17

It's quite a nice feeling

0:56:170:56:18

to feel like we have been listened to this time.

0:56:180:56:20

From my perspective, if I am providing a service,

0:56:220:56:26

I have a responsibility to my customers

0:56:260:56:29

to give them the best service that they believe

0:56:290:56:32

that they are entitled to and that I believe I can give.

0:56:320:56:37

Wow!

0:56:400:56:42

Oh, wow!

0:56:420:56:43

I never could expect a garden like this.

0:56:440:56:47

Zizi, you like it?

0:56:470:56:49

-I like it.

-Wow!

0:56:490:56:52

Being the tenant for a few days in this property,

0:56:520:56:56

I actually realised that the landlord could make a difference,

0:56:560:56:59

could help instead of just being the property owner.

0:56:590:57:03

To be a landlord is not just to make a profit and money,

0:57:060:57:09

it's as well social responsibility to provide a home to my tenants,

0:57:090:57:14

not just a place to live for them.

0:57:140:57:16

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