Mental health matters to landlords too

Posted on 10 October 2023
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Mental health matters to landlords too

The stigma surrounding mental health is waning and awareness drives, like World Mental Health Day on 10th October 2023, serve as a timely reminder to be kinder to ourselves and those around us. 

Pressure, stress and anxiety come from many sources, but life’s biggest milestones are often at the root. Death, divorce, illness and kids can all result in poor mental health, but another event is cited as one of life’s most stressful – and that’s moving home.  

In fact, research released in 2021 by Just Move In discovered that 1 in 3 people found moving house to be more stressful for their mental health than childbirth. Of those questioned, 27% dreaded the conversations they had to have with energy providers, while 69% felt agents could do more to help home movers. 

Additionally, the charity Shelter found almost two-thirds of renters in large swaths of the country – about 4.4 million people – said their mental health had worsened since 2022 due to housing worries. The matter was more prominent for some groups, with half of all disabled renters saying they had become more ill due to worrying about their living conditions. 

Landlords need to be included in the home moving and property demographic. They also buy and sell property and worry about living conditions. What’s more, property investors are at the mercy of market trends and the wider economic outlook, perhaps even more than the average owner-occupier, with equal exposure to detrimental or distressing situations. 

The NRLA (National Residential Landlords Association) highlights how running a buy-to-let portfolio – or even just a single rental property – is tough, especially for those who self-manage. Brought to our attention is the expectation of being available 24/7, piles of paperwork, increasing amounts of red tape, emergency call-outs, new lettings legislation, responsibility for stringent living standards, legal proceedings and even abuse from tenants. 

Then there’s the opprobrium that accompanies the phrase ‘rogue landlord’. It’s a very tiny minority of landlords who run illegal, substandard buy-to-lets, but sadly some quarters of the media – and society – would like to tar all landlords with the same brush. 

There’s also negativity surrounding merely being a landlord – even if you’re a good one. Just the word is enough to rile many, a shame given there are over 5m privately rented properties and they’re so important and almost all well maintained and managed. 

The above is all par of the course if you own a buy-to-let in calm, stable economic times but recent years have brought about additional stresses, pushing some landlords to their limits.  

The NRLA says the post-Covid landscaped has left a trail of damaging negatives, including job losses, rent arrears and delays to court proceedings. Its data revealed 40% of landlords said the pandemic had had a ‘negative or very negative’ impact on their mental health. 

More recent events have served to compound the issue, with high inflation, rising interest and mortgage rates, the cost-of-living crisis and radical reforms in the shape of the Renters’ Reform Bill serving as black clouds on a landlord’s horizon. As a result, many are struggling to make a profit, with LandlordBuyer reporting that a property investor’s profits may fall to just £7 a year in 2023, blamed on higher mortgage rates crippling landlords who need to remortgage and increasingly stringent S24 taxes. 

This sentiment is echoed by figures from Cornerstone Tax. It found only 1 in 5 landlords said their investment had been profitable in 2023, while a further 1 in 5commented they became a landlord without sufficient knowledge and had lost thousands as a result.  

Although many of the mental health conversations pertain to supporting tenants, the same support is available to landlords. Viewber has come across many resources in our quest to improve the mental health of our own property team.  

We are a signatory of the Mindful Employers Charter, which openly demonstrates our commitment to better mental health at work, and we have our own St John Ambulance-trained Mental Health First Aider in the shape of CET, Kate Campbell-Balcombe. 

Resources landlords may find helpful include: 

  • Mental Health First Aid – online self-care tools  
  • Mind –0300 1233393 
  • The Samaritans – 116 123 
  • Money Advice Service0800 138 7777 
  • StepChange – 0800 138 1111 
  • Rethink Mental Illness Advice Line – 0300 5000 927  
  • Saneline – 0300 304 7000  
  • NHS Talking Therapiesself refer here without a GP referral 
  • CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) –0800 58 58 58 
  • Shout – text 85258 to start a confidential conversation about your mental health 

Viewber is also here to support landlords who feel overwhelmed by property management and buy-to-let tasks, especially at a distance. They can lighten the load by using one – or several – of our ‘on your behalf’ services, which include: 

  • Accompanying visits & hosting open house events 
  • Conducting property inspections & producing reports 
  • Undertaking block & communal area checks 
  • Viewing a property with a view to purchasing 
  • Issuing EPC certificates 
  • Conducting compliant fire door, PCFRA & alarm checks 
  • Attending a property to let in, ‘sit and wait’, & lock-up (trades, deliveries & third parties) 
  • Taking photographs, producing floorplans & creating 360° tours 
  • Key handover & key holding  

Please get in touch if you would like to know more about Viewber or are struggling with anything property related. If we can’t help, we will know someone who can. 

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We could not operate…without them "I strongly recommend teaming up with Viewber. National Residential has been availing its services since 2016 and we continue to do so. They offer a wide range of services such as scheduling viewings and open house appointments for potential buyers and surveyors, as well as providing marketing elements such as photography, floor plans, and 360 tours. Their nationwide availability ensures that their services are easily accessible to everyone, no matter where they are located. They are particularly effective when it comes to facilitating access and viewings with our tenanted property sales which are a real challenge to many agents. For vacant property sales; Viewber will facilitate viewings and surveys by either fitting a key safe or else having one of their local agents act as a key holder. We could not operate our auction sales business without them." David Coughlin - DIRECTOR

Used for all different aspects "We have been using for Viewber for several years now. We are a large property buying company with quite a few arms to our company, Viewber is used for all different aspects to our business whether that's viewings, document signing, photos etc - we are proud to work alongside them and would highly recommend them" Jessica Buckley - THE PROPERTY SELLING COMPANY

Coverage and reliability are brilliant "We've used Viewber Services for nearly 6 months now and the team are fantastic. Our teams are booking c50-100 appointments a month with Viewber and the coverage and reliability are brilliant. Viewber have provided great solutions to our business enabling us to outsource tasks enabling us to focus on core operations and provide national coverage at the same time. Can't recommend Cheryl, Chris & Nathan in the Team there!", Oli Reid - LIVING REDEFINED

Impressed with this "Impressed with this. Was hesitant at first but a very simple portal and system to use. Also very pleased with my viewber herself, Linda. Great feedback which will help to generate a potential offer. Both viewers were very complimentary of Linda. Thank you. I will definitely be using Viewber again.", Daniel Woods, PARTNER AT THE AGENCY UK

Viewber has revolutionised the way we run our business "Viewber has revolutionised the way we run our business; from allowing us the flexibility of weekend viewings on multiple properties, to offering full property listing packs for the properties out of our traditional area. The online booking platform is simple to use and the feedback received is invaluable. We would have no hesitation in recommending Viewber to anyone looking to streamline their business and save valuable time!", Danielle Kinch - AUCTION HOUSE LINCOLNSHIRE

Many properties too far "I like the simple process which your system offers. We have many properties too far from our main office in Nottingham so Viewber is a great service we can [rely] on and have done so on many occasions.", Omeeto - COMMERCIAL AGENT

No brainer "I can't believe I didn't know about this sooner. I am a property professional. I source deals for investors as well as having a portfolio of my own! I am always viewing potential investments and sometimes driving for 8 hours a day! So this will literally save me so many hours! …So this service is a no brainer for me." Owner - PROPERTY INVESTMENT COMPANY

Really Happy "It was great. We were really happy with the service. Easy/quick to book and confirm, easy to get in touch with the Viewber and he did a great job!" Carter Jonas, POLLY WATTRIDGE - HEAD OF RESIDENTIAL - SALES & LETTINGS

Just what we needed "We are very pleased with the service Viewber have provided for the inspection of the communal fire doors in a building we manage, the report was detailed and just what we needed to ensure our compliance with the recent legislation changes", Town & City Management - MANAGING AGENT

Working with Viewber has been a game-changer for our property management needs. Their nationwide viewing service has streamlined our processes, allowing us to efficiently handle viewings across the country without the logistical headaches. We highly recommend Viewber to anyone looking for a seamless and dependable solution for property viewings and key management - Purplebricks