Panorama.2019.03.18.Britains.Most.Controversial.Landlord
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00:00Tonight, on Panorama, the families without security.
00:07How landlords can call the shots.
00:10We've got two types of tenants.
00:13We've got those that agree with me, and ex-tenants.
00:17Where with Britain's most controversial landlord,
00:20as he evicts hundreds of people.
00:23Fergus Wilson's mass eviction of tenants to begin next week,
00:27and the headline is right.
00:30In some streets, every family could be out.
00:34We have no say in it whatsoever. No security.
00:39It's all perfectly legal,
00:41because private tenants have so little security.
00:45The whole housing system is completely dependent on private renting,
00:48and private renting is totally unfit for purpose.
00:52Tonight, we'll show you one landlord's view
00:55of Britain's broken housing system.
00:58The landlord rules, not the tenant.
01:01But I think you've worked that out, haven't you?
01:16Fergus and Judith Wilson are inspecting their property empire.
01:21We've got properties along here, which we own.
01:24We've got all the houses up here.
01:28Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.
01:30They own around 300 properties across Kent.
01:34Do you remember that film Gone With The Wind?
01:37Yes. That's the story here, isn't it?
01:39Yes. Gone With The Wind. It is.
01:42Fergus Wilson is a controversial figure.
01:46A Romanian tenant there with a Mercedes.
01:49Nothing wrong with that.
01:51But now the Wilsons are retiring.
01:54They've had enough after a number of court battles
01:57over their treatment of tenants.
01:59That's why all these people will be losing their homes,
02:02because we are withdrawing.
02:04Good morning, Mr Wilson. Good morning to you.
02:07So all their tenants could face eviction.
02:10We're going to have to set up,
02:12which is terrible for people such as yourself.
02:15We were worried. I have to say we were very worried.
02:19Hello, Mr Wilson, your landlord. How are you?
02:22He can't answer.
02:26I don't think he speaks English.
02:31The private rented sector has made the Wilsons multimillionaires.
02:36We bought this off plan.
02:38At one point, they owned almost 1,000 properties.
02:42So how much is this worth?
02:44The UK's housing shortage means that for many people,
02:48renting from private landlords is the only way to get a home.
02:53He'd rent out at £1,200 a month.
02:56See, £1,200 a month.
02:58But basically, it's very difficult for young people now
03:02to get sufficient deposit to get going.
03:05And they tend to have been very, very upmarket people
03:09who previously would have owned a house,
03:12but they can't get the mortgage together now.
03:14Good for business. Good for us, yes.
03:16But not so good for them.
03:18Let's have a look upstairs.
03:23Like many people who rent,
03:25the Wilsons' tenants are nearly all on six-month contracts.
03:30When that contract is up,
03:32they can evict them for no reason, with just two months' notice.
03:37If I lived here, would you boot me out?
03:40At the end of my tenancy, that would be me out
03:42because you want to sell the house?
03:44Well, essentially, yes, but we would probably do our very, very best
03:48to ensure that the tenant had decided to go naturally,
03:52and he would then not re-let it.
03:55As people have moved out, we haven't replaced,
03:58and we've held on to them,
04:00because it's far better to put it in an auction empty.
04:03So it would be silly to throw people out.
04:06So you do a bit of everything.
04:08What we have been describing is what I call natural wastage.
04:12That's not booting people out,
04:14but waiting till they go for promotion reasons,
04:17another job in another town, or whatever it is.
04:30That night, I visited a street that tells a different story.
04:34Nobody here chose to leave.
04:39There are 14 properties here. The Wilsons own seven.
04:42And here is a really good example
04:44of the way the Wilsons are getting rid of their properties.
04:48They told me it was natural wastage.
04:51That's how they would end people's tenancies.
04:53But that's not what's happening here.
04:55Let me show you around.
04:57Over here, these two people booted out.
04:59Over here, two properties they owned.
05:01They've already gone. He goes next week.
05:04Over here, another two properties already gone.
05:07And in that corner, he's booted out as well.
05:10So seven of the 14 people in here
05:13have all been cleared out of the properties.
05:18All seven families were sent eviction notices.
05:23Schoolteacher Hannah has a young baby.
05:25She got her letter just before Christmas.
05:29I was devastated. I was genuinely devastated
05:32because I knew, financially,
05:34this was going to, like, cripple me for the next few months
05:37between deposits, moving vans.
05:39Couldn't have waited till after Christmas, really.
05:41Couldn't have waited to serve those.
05:43You've got millions in the bank.
05:45You're evicting people over Christmas.
05:47They would say, look, we're 70.
05:49We just want to cash in our properties.
05:51They don't want to manage them any more,
05:53so they want to sell them off.
05:55That's a legitimate thing to do, is it?
05:57It's a legitimate thing to do,
05:59but I would query their use of the verb manage, if I'm honest.
06:03Two doors down, Radislav is the only Wilson tenant on the street
06:08still in his home.
06:10Hey, I'm Richard from Panhala.
06:12How are you doing? You all right? Thank you very much.
06:15He leaves in a few days.
06:18We have to move out. It's trouble. Trouble for us.
06:22What did the letter say? Why did you have to move out?
06:25Because someone sell this house.
06:28You work? Yes.
06:30You've always paid the rent? Yes.
06:32Have you ever complained or given them problems? No.
06:36Have they ever given you a warning or complained at you? No.
06:39But they say you've got to go? Yeah.
06:41Everyone received a letter from the Serag
06:45and everyone must go.
06:48Radislav has found a new place, but the move will be expensive.
06:53Is that how much you've got to pay when you move in?
06:56£2,690.
06:59That's blimey. Where are you getting that money from?
07:03I'm saving, yeah.
07:05You're savings? Yeah.
07:07I'm saving and I borrow from my daughter £1,000.
07:10Some give me my son, my son working, my girlfriend,
07:13my girlfriend working, yeah.
07:15So money from all the family just to get the next place?
07:18Yes. Because you've been booted out of here? Yeah.
07:22These short-notice, no-fault evictions, called Section 21s,
07:28are completely legal and very common.
07:3222,000 ended up in the courts last year.
07:36But that figure is only a fraction of the real number
07:40who were forced out by Section 21s.
07:43Most tenants leave before it gets to court.
07:47The landlord can just suddenly decide
07:49that they can't stay in the property anymore.
07:52And the insecurity this creates, particularly for children,
07:55it's incredibly damaging.
07:57And it's one of the main reasons why we now have
08:00about 300,000 people homeless in this country.
08:03The leading cause of homelessness
08:05is the end of a private rented tenancy.
08:08The Wilsons' mass eviction is coming to an end.
08:13The Wilsons' mass eviction is controversial,
08:17but that's nothing new for them.
08:19They've often been accused of abusing their power as landlords.
08:24Britain's most hated millionaire landlord
08:27vows to evict hundreds of tenants
08:29after first banning coloured tenants claiming they smell like curry.
08:35As well as accusations of racism,
08:38the Wilsons have refused to take tenants on zero-hours contracts,
08:42single parents and people on benefits.
08:45Not everyone on housing benefit is a problem,
08:48but every problem is on housing benefit.
08:51The problem is they don't get paid enough in benefits
08:54from Her Majesty's Government to pay the rent.
08:57The problem becomes a financial problem.
09:03Stories of people having to leave because they're on benefits
09:06always attract the headlines.
09:08Then you are cast in the role as ruthless landlord, right?
09:11How does that feel?
09:12I think we're treated unfairly.
09:14I'm not all that bothered about it. My shoulders are quite broad.
09:17The only thing I think of is if I go round to the local shop
09:21and I buy a loaf of bread, I can't turn round and say,
09:24oh, yes, I'll have that and I'll pay you next week for it.
09:27How many tenants do you think I have who say,
09:30oh, no, I'm not going to pay all the rent today
09:32because I'm using it for something else,
09:35I have to pay the mortgage company the day they want that mortgage,
09:39not a month later because I'm having to go and pay this
09:43or pay that or pay something else.
09:45I don't think many people have a problem with evicting tenants
09:48who are not paying their rent.
09:50I think the problem comes as if they are paying their rent
09:52but they're in a category that they don't fit the bill.
09:54Sometimes you have to look ahead and you have to say,
09:57is there going to be a problem here or a potential problem?
10:01Let's get rid of the problem before it comes.
10:04So that is inherently kind of ruthless, isn't it?
10:07It may seem ruthless but it's also business.
10:12And it's a successful business.
10:15The number of people living in private rented in England
10:19has more than doubled in the last 20 years to 10 million.
10:25But the private sector doesn't want everyone.
10:29Four out of five landlords don't rent to people on benefits.
10:34Fergus Wilson says it's mortgage conditions
10:37that prevent him from renting to people on low incomes.
10:45Everyone in any town is entitled to somewhere to live.
10:50But the problem is the mortgage company prohibits you
10:54from renting to people who haven't got a rent guarantee.
10:57If you choose that mortgage company, you could go somewhere else.
11:00Not at our age.
11:02What you have to understand, and your viewers have to understand,
11:06is that the private sector landlord does not have a duty of care.
11:11It is the local council has the duty of care.
11:20For the Wilsons, it's just a business,
11:23but their assets are people's homes.
11:26In Grice Close, near Folkestone, the Wilsons own every property.
11:31And they want to sell all 15 homes.
11:37Practice nurse Ellen lives here with her husband and two daughters.
11:42She's heard about the big sell-off.
11:46We have not had any official notification.
11:49All we know is what we've read online, what we've seen on the news.
11:53At the moment, it was, oh, my goodness, what are we going to do now?
11:57What is life like if you're living in the rented sector?
12:00It's just uncertainty. You've got no security whatsoever.
12:03It doesn't matter what they say.
12:05Our life depends on whether they sell or whether they stay.
12:09We have no say in it whatsoever. No security.
12:14The whole housing system is completely dependent on private renting,
12:18and private renting is totally unfit for purpose.
12:22Of course, you know, lots of landlords are great.
12:25Fergus is an extreme example, I think we should say.
12:29But, you know, he is a really good illustration
12:33of how easy it is to prevent people in private renting.
12:40So, we're down in Grice Close to look at 15 houses
12:45which have received some attention in the media.
12:51Some good, some bad.
12:54The standard of the housing appears to me to be excellent.
13:01We're going to have a look at one of the houses
13:03which has received some attention in the media.
13:06It appears to me to be excellent.
13:10Hello, how are you?
13:12Fergus Wilson says the tenants here don't have to worry about evictions.
13:17You are my tenant there, are you?
13:19Yeah, certainly. Nice to meet you.
13:21What's happening at the moment,
13:23we are negotiating with somebody to buy the whole 15 in Grice Close
13:30and retain the tenants.
13:32That is why you have not received a notice to quit,
13:35which is why this bill is Section 21.
13:41He says nobody will be forced out.
13:47But the family at number ten have already been told to go.
13:52They received an eviction notice the day after making a complaint.
13:58They say it's a revenge eviction.
14:05We got confused why we got the eviction notice,
14:08and then we realised we'd seen that email the day before
14:11and we put two things together.
14:13Why do you think you're being evicted?
14:16I think it's a revenge eviction.
14:19They're not bothered to do these things,
14:21so it's probably easier for them to evict us.
14:26They complained because the Wilsons put up the rent.
14:30Now, they were happy to pay as long as some minor repairs were made,
14:34but the Wilsons evicted them for complaining.
14:38How did that make you feel?
14:40Really angry. Really angry.
14:42Yeah? Yeah. Why?
14:44Why?
14:46Cos we were planning to live here for a few years
14:50until we could save up enough for a mortgage,
14:53but now we're moving again.
14:55It's sort of put us back to square one.
15:00Wayne and Charlotte both work,
15:02but now they're having to move back in with his mum.
15:08It's not ideal, but we've got no choice.
15:11Yeah.
15:12We're a family of four, and moving to my mother,
15:14it feels like we're losing our independence.
15:16You know, we feel like we're a burden.
15:24They said to you,
15:25we don't mind paying the rent, but can you come and do these repairs?
15:28And then you booed them out.
15:30Section 21, and they were gone.
15:32Now, that's a revenge eviction, isn't it?
15:34No. I gave them a section 21
15:36because, from years of experience,
15:39if people complain about a rent increase one year,
15:43they complain again the following year,
15:45they complain the year after that.
15:47We'll have this again and again.
15:49It's a straightforward, retaliatory eviction, isn't it?
15:52You didn't like the fact that you wanted repairs sorted out,
15:54so you saw him on the street.
15:56I thought the decision, rightly or wrongly,
15:58you can go rabbiting on if you wish to about retaliation,
16:02but the truth of the matter is,
16:04it was just an economic decision.
16:06Let's deal with it now rather than in the year to come.
16:09Section 21s allow you to be pretty brutal, don't they?
16:12Yes.
16:14I suppose the truthful answer is,
16:16yes, I can do what I like.
16:18You don't want me to lie about it and dress it up, do you?
16:21No, but that is difficult if you're a tenant, isn't it?
16:23You can do what you like.
16:24The landlord rules, not the tenant.
16:26But I think you've worked that out, haven't you?
16:34Tenants are supposed to be protected from revenge evictions,
16:38but the law only helps in very specific cases.
16:42It's estimated there are more than 45,000 revenge evictions a year.
16:49To be clear, most private landlords do a good job
16:53and the average tenant stays in a property for four years.
17:00But the problem is tenants are reliant on a landlord's goodwill
17:05and the availability of properties.
17:09We used to own about 25% of Park Farm.
17:13Whatever we charge in Park Farm,
17:15whatever we buy for, whatever we sell for,
17:18we control the prices.
17:21Basically, we've got two types of tenants,
17:23those that agree with me and ex-tenants.
17:28Thomas, Mr Wilson, your landlord.
17:30You remember me? Yes.
17:32That's been done. OK, fine, we won't bother you with it.
17:35The Wilsons say they've provided homes
17:38for more than 10,000 tenants over the years.
17:41Did you tell me you came from Ghana or Kenya?
17:43No, I'm from Ghana. Ghana, Ghana, not Kenya.
17:46Nice having met you again.
17:48It's the second time I've met you, isn't it? Yes. Yes, that's right.
17:54We have got tenants here who've been here for many years
17:58and I'm assuming that they're happy with me as a landlord
18:01because if they're not, then they should vote with your feet and go.
18:06Here we are now, we're about to turn in.
18:09The Wilsons' rental empire started in 1991
18:13with this buy-to-let property near Maidstone.
18:17I'm not about to carry Mrs Wilson over the threshold. No.
18:21And I didn't when we first purchased it.
18:24But come in now and let's see what we've got for our money.
18:29Oh, the window's actually open, that's something.
18:34They bought it for £35,000.
18:37They're now selling it for ten times that.
18:40They've evicted a family so they can put it on the market.
18:44They've had to go so that we can sell the property.
18:51They've moved into a flat. Very, very nice, charming people.
18:56But I rather fancy they would have preferred to have stayed here.
19:06Lot 28 now is Bishopswood in Kings North, Ashford.
19:11And nearly 30 years after that first house,
19:14the whole empire is up for sale.
19:17Done. £119. It's yours, sir. And your number, please.
19:21It's auction day and the Wilsons are about to collect another million.
19:29They were offering £195.
19:32I've said no and he is going back and I've said,
19:36look, if they go over £200, I said we would consider it.
19:40So that's what he's looking at.
19:44And sold. It's yours, sir. £134,000.
19:48How was that then for you? Good day, bad day?
19:51It was a good day for us and it normally is a good day.
19:55We normally make a million each auction,
19:58so I suppose you've got to say by any standards that's a good day.
20:02Third and final time and £200,000 on selling.
20:05This is a landlord who has made his fortune
20:08by ruthlessly using his power.
20:11Remember, he has said no tenants on benefits, no zero-hours workers
20:16and, to use his words, no coloureds.
20:21We're not interested in the colour of the skin,
20:24the size or shape of the people.
20:26We are interested in the colour of money.
20:28You did say no coloured people, didn't you?
20:30You did send a letter saying no coloured people.
20:32We sent an email, which is almost the same thing,
20:35and it has the status of a letter, in fact.
20:38Yeah.
20:39Well, what happened was it was a bit of bantering, larking around.
20:43Now, during the correspondence, me larking around with the lad,
20:47I said to him, guess as well it wasn't some Indians with curry.
20:52So I made this comment about we're not going to let to South Asian people.
21:00And they all got a wee bit confused.
21:04What Mr Wilson actually did was write to his letting agent
21:08to say no coloured people because of the curry smell
21:12at the end of the tenancy.
21:14Do you see why that in part will make people say,
21:16you know, he's a racist landlord, he doesn't want people in?
21:19My reaction to that is very, very simple,
21:21that when we were taking the court over,
21:23the people prosecuting me were the Equalities and Human Rights Commission,
21:29who made the point we are not saying Mr Wilson's racist.
21:33We are just saying he mustn't do it.
21:38The Equalities and Human Rights Commission won an injunction
21:41to stop his racial discrimination.
21:50It is not the only time the Wilsons have been in court.
21:55This council block is where Leanne and Mike Holmes live
21:59with their two children.
22:02They used to live in a Wilson property
22:05until their boiler stopped working in the middle of winter.
22:09Despite repeated complaints, it wasn't being fixed.
22:14It was during a cold snap of about minus seven,
22:17I spent my time just trying to keep my pregnant wife
22:21and my daughter warm.
22:24Having your one-year-old daughter walk up to you,
22:30shivering, mummy, I'm cold, nearly in tears,
22:34and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it,
22:38It's still quite emotional for you to talk about it now.
22:40Yes. It's a horrible part of my life.
22:42Sorry.
22:44The dispute escalated and the family had to move out.
22:48They ended up spending 19 weeks living in one room
22:52in this homeless shelter.
22:55Our youngest daughter was born homeless.
22:58We were still at the unit when she was born.
23:01It might seem strange to you,
23:04It might seem trivial because we're not there now,
23:07but you never get that back.
23:09That time when your baby's about to arrive
23:12is meant to be a joyous time, and that was taken from us.
23:21And it gets worse.
23:23During the dispute, the council took the Wilsons to court
23:27and they were ordered to pay Mike and Leanne £12,000.
23:32But because a prosecution case against the Wilsons was later dropped,
23:37they are now demanding that cash back.
23:43So, the Wilsons are suing Leanne and Mike
23:46and have added almost £30,000 in legal costs to the bill.
23:53It's mortifying, to tell you the truth.
23:56Our solicitors have said,
23:59Our solicitor, luckily, is pretty confident that we can get rid of it.
24:03But if we can't, I mean,
24:05having to pay nearly £32,000 off that we just simply haven't got,
24:11it's got the potential to ruin our entire future.
24:16So, we are fighting it,
24:19and we're not letting them do this to us, and not to our kids.
24:28There's a family, their boiler goes,
24:30they end up losing their home because you asked them to leave,
24:33and then the compensation that you were told to pay,
24:35you then go to court to get that back off the family.
24:38That seems ruthless, Fergus.
24:40Firstly, there's a problem with no hot water.
24:43I've seen the emails. Leanne is saying,
24:45it is freezing, I am pregnant, I have a small child.
24:48Well, hold on there, it was to do with hot water, not freezing.
24:51She had heating, emergency heating, delivered by the agent.
24:57She had heating.
24:58That is why there was no issue over heating when we went to court.
25:02We all know boilers shouldn't break down, but the reality is they do.
25:06Their boiler went, you boot them out the house,
25:08and then you go after them for £30,000.
25:11Why did you do that?
25:12They have had some compensation, which was paid in error, if you like,
25:16unjustly, it was unjustly awarded.
25:19In your opinion?
25:20No, not in my opinion, it was unjustly awarded.
25:24The council actually withdrew the matter,
25:26so therefore if they've withdrawn the matter, there's no conviction.
25:29It seems vindictive, Fergus.
25:32They're the ones that you're pursuing.
25:34They're the ones that you're asking for £30,000, that would ruin their lives.
25:38Pardon?
25:39£30,000 would ruin their lives, they haven't got that.
25:42Well, I can't help that.
25:43Why have you gone after them?
25:44All that they've done is complain about a boiler that didn't work.
25:47Because they've got the money,
25:48and common sense tells you they've got to pay it back.
25:55It's only a few weeks since we started filming the Wilsons' property empire,
26:01but already lives are being changed.
26:05Radoslav and his son are moving out.
26:13No, it's not fair, I am still very angry.
26:18I believe, yeah, I stay in the next house in the long term.
26:23Not like this. Not like this house.
26:26That's it.
26:37Wayne and Charlotte are now living with his mum.
26:45It's a shame. They were so happy there.
26:48They were so happy there.
26:51It's a shame they had to move.
26:56She put a roof above her head, so we've been grateful.
27:00Better than being homeless, yeah?
27:10Fergus Wilson is getting ready for his retirement,
27:14and Britain's most controversial landlord is unapologetic.
27:20If I had my life again, I would do it exactly the same.
27:24We like to help people, we've helped an awful lot of people.
27:28I think some of my critics tend to forget that.
27:35I smile sometimes when people say,
27:37you shouldn't be selling all these houses
27:39because the people have got nowhere to live.
27:42It was only a few weeks before they were shouting,
27:45you've got too many houses, get rid of them.
27:47So you can't please all of the people all of the time.
27:51Sometimes I don't think I can please them any of the time.
27:57With more and more people renting,
28:00the market is stacked in the landlord's favour.
28:03There are many good landlords,
28:06but they all can pick and choose tenants,
28:09take revenge if people complain,
28:12and evict families for no reason.
28:15For millions, the security of their home
28:18is at the mercy of their landlord.
28:28Available on iPlayer now from BBC Three,
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