Fair rents
Sir: In connection with Mr Samuel's letter on fair rents, it must be pointed out that the market value of rented accommodation is by no means determined . by immutable causes, but, like share values, can be manipulated to the seller's advantage. One mode of manipulation, open to a property company, is the simple one of obtaining a dominating share of a certain range of rented accommodation in a suitable district, at any price with the aid of borrowed capital. When, as a result of the establishment of a nearmonopoly, rents are raised excessively, it is not very comforting to be told that the property company is acting in a most benevolent role by maintaining a supply of rented accommodation in the face of selfish people who desire to buy their own flats themselves or through a housing association, The fact is, of course, that the more flats that
are sold to individuals, the greater is the reward reaped by the company for its self-acclaimed benevolence.
It is well established that certain property companies are using every device to leapfrog rents higher and higher every three years. One such device is to induce the eager prospective tenant to sign a lease embodying a rent higher than the registered rent, though for the time being the tenant is not required to pay that rent. However, this notional rent is that claimed to be the market value when an application is later made to the Rent Officer for the registration of the rent of a similar flat. Moreover, many tenants are asked to pay rents higher than registered rents and indeed do so through eagerness to obtain accommodation, ignorance of their rights, or laziness. Rent Officers would be less than human if they were not influenced, if only subconsciously, in their judgement of market values by being subjected to a constant stream of applications for ever-increasing rents. Those that don't ask, don't get and those that ask, get a lot of what they ask.
If, as the director of the largest company dealing in rented accommodation predicts, rents do double within three years, it will be to a very great extent due to the policy of his company.
C. H. Spiers 83 Heathcraft, Hampstead Way, London NW11
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