Helping Others Up

My dad taught us that, when one is in a position to help others, one should always do so. Its a truth and value I have passed on to my sons - which I hope they will pass on to theirs...

There are times where we, from a position of privilege, see others struggling to get to the top of a slippery slope between them and their goal. Many observers already at the top choose to pretend they don't see. Others - those who practice MeFFu / Me1Fu (Me First F#ck You) - simply don't care.

Shouldn't we be extending a helping hand to those struggling to make it to the top, to help them be beside us on the top of the wall ? Anyone with a Jiminy Cricket on their shoulder would say Yes.

It's not just about the fact that there are many wellbeing benefits that accrue to those who act with kindness and generosity, or, that giving often comes at little or no cost to those doing so: It's simply the right thing to do.

Unconditional Giving

Mark Boyle has said in his The Moneyless Man TEDx talk

Imagine a world where we give because there is no other reason. What other reason do we need to give others, than somebody needs help.

I wholeheartedly agree: do we really need to ask "What's in it for me ?" in order to be swayed into helping others; rather than giving selflessly with no expectation of return ?

Sadly, for some, that's exactly what they expect: something in return, otherwise forget it !

Giving Someone a Leg-up

A lovely definition I came across for this idiom is:

‘To help someone to achieve something that they couldn't have done alone.'

The title image I've selected perfectly exemplifies this.

Although giving someone a leg-up purportedly has its origins in the equestrian world (think, helping someone into the saddle) ; I think, putting the phrase into action in a metaphoric sense would apply beautifully to the world of home ownership.

We know that the real steeply curved tall wall that renters have to summit to become home owners is made so difficult because of principally two things:

1. Seemingly ever increasing (and seriously over-inflated ) house prices, and
2. Being unable to pay rents AND save for a home of their own.

There is also the matter of many good people, who truly deserve a break, are to proud to ask for help.

Helping Landlords

So, is there something landlords can do to help ?

Apart from selling their rental properties and thereby releasing stock to the market that want-to-be home owners could purchase - (which may, cumulatively, steadily help house prices diminish as a direct consequence of there being greater supply than demand) - there is not much landlords can do to immediately affect house prices.

However, if landlords (many of whom I suspect were once renters themselves) acted in spirit of giving, by reducing rents - enough for tenants to be able to save towards a house deposit - that would make an immediate, significant and magnificent difference.

I realize that (sadly) as a consequence of relying almost entirely on rental income to pay rental property mortgages, not all landlords would be in a position to help. Some would refuse to buy in to this philosophy because they simply don't care.

None-the-less, a timely reminder that:

When one is in a position to help others, one should always do so.

Here is an actual example of that in action:

In response to an article A Viable Alternative to Rent Caps I published in LinkedIn recently, Robert McAulay wrote:

“We were fortunate when we got married in that our landlord thought in a similar way and kept our rent low enough that we were able to save and in just under 4 years we were able to purchase our first home, so the concept does work but as you say greed stops it.”

So, this has happened before; but does require being lucky enough to have ones' landlord help you up the wall.

I've coined a phrase for such benevolent landlords:

Leg-up Landlords.

For those unable to gift, unconditionally, the phrase ‘You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’. comes to mind as a middle-ground approach.

When one thinks about it, tenants, help landlords gain equity in their property - an indisputable win for the landlord. Tenants however, get no additional benefit other than the obvious roof over their heads - which is a fundamental human need and right anyway - and something the landlord already has. Whilst their rent payments enriches the landlord, that money expended gains tenants nothing to show for, or to take with them.

In the grand scheme of things (financially) it's a

Heads I win, Tails you lose situation.

So, how about, in recognition of the gains made (thanks to tenants rents) landlords scratch their tenant's backs by reducing their rents (which do not always have to go up) and that way, give them a leg-up into home ownership.

I think that's a fair deal that genuinely fulfills the 'You-scratch-my-back-and I'll-scratch-yours' philosophy....

Just like those who value eggs produced in a kind and wholesome free range environment wouldn't purchase battery-produced chicken eggs, renters would rather be tenants where their landlord practices the 'Leg-up' philosophy ? It would (perhaps) be taking things too far to see some form of certified Leg-Up Landlord - but the concept is feasible. I think, though, that there is an impediment to this: the property manager.

That Middle Man

It has occurred to me that property managers have potentially been causal in driving rent amounts up - beyond what is reasonable; so it stands to reason then that Leg-up Landlords would deal directly with their tenants and, so-doing, have more intimate knowledge, connection and rapport with them - which builds trust and community spirit and along with that, the catalyst for reasonable rents (ones that allow tenants to still save for their own homes whilst paying rents).

Creating a Ladder out of Nothing

Note that I’ve intentionally chosen to not write giving someone a leg-up onto the property ladder – as my belief is that very statement validates houses being treated as commodities and that there should be more rungs to have to climb in the form of aspirations to owning multiple dwellings.

My view is: once someone has stepped over the threshold into their own home, they have attained the pinnacle and achieved all that is required. There is no need to create a ladder.

Dialogue with a Landlord

Last weekend I had an opportunity to chat to a well-respected and veteran home loan provider about our housing situation - who happens to also be a landlord. Let's just call him Sam for purposes of this article. For the record, Sam has now sold his rental property.

When I asked Sam whether the recent policy changes government have made regarding housing, he confirmed he has seen a substantial reduction in the number of ‘investors’ looking at purchasing additional properties. 

We had a robust debate about the goals of landlords and renters, and the ethics and nuances of the current housing unaffordability situation.

It became obvious during that conversation that many landlords view property rental purely as a business. This is rather unfortunate as the 'business' has massive impact on the potential for someone to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Growing Tension

Based on what I'm seeing in online housing forums, the consequence of landlords treating renting as a business - instead of as an authentic you scratch-my-back-and -I'll-scratch-yours opportunity - has led to a confrontational attitude developing over time between landlords and tenants: that seems to be increasing in its intensity.

I have to confess, I have (as a current renter) been guilty of seeing this as an 'Us vs Them' scenario, and because of that had less insight than what I should have in order to be able to make a constructive difference - my aim all along.

The conversation I had with Sam was helpful: I've had to learn to take a different approach - a more constructive one - and look for ways where both sides of the equation win.

Landlords cannot make capital gains with tenants. Most tenants don't want to be life-time renters. We know, with the current practices, that the scales are not balanced.

 So, what does it take to reshape how we see things and then action them accordingly?

A Change of Perspective, A Change of Heart

The father of Quantum Physics, Max Planck said:

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

Although he was probably talking about 'Observer Effect' - where the act of observation may change the outcome - this same phrase was used by Wayne Dyer to teach that: being open to other interpretations and perspectives adds new meanings to our existing perceptions.

Landlords do have the power to give their tenants that ‘leg-up’.  It simply requires a change of perspective and a change of heart; and then, of course, meaningful actions that manifest in a reduction in rent.

I'd much rather see a shift where landlords voluntarily reduce rents because of a desire to uplift all of those in the community which they are part of, than some intervention by government (such as rent caps) mandated in the interests of the greater good.

Nobel Peace prize winner Albert Schweitzer said:

The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.

Imagine a world where landlords are revered, appreciated and acknowledged by society - like teachers are - for the difference that they make in society at large.

Would it not give a landlord some deep inner satisfaction knowing they had a genuine hand in helping their former tenants reach the top of the wall and into a home of their own by having given them a leg-up .......?

I'd love to hear from anyone out there who is lucky enough to have a Leg-Up Landlord helping them reach the top of the wall ...