The Evolution of the Rental Market
The evolution of ‘tenants’ and ‘landlords’ into equal participants, as ‘renter’
and ‘owner’ in a renting chain has taken a few hundred years to complete but
we’re almost there. There could not be renters without owners, or owners
without renters, as both need the other to exist in the working relationship.
Using technology we are finally arriving at a place where renters and owners
can build relationships and trust between each other to cut out the middleman.
Here is a short timeline of how the terms ‘tenant’ and ‘landlord’ came about
and the evolution of the rental market to the one developing right now.
1066
BC
1792
BC
Waaaay back in the day there was manorialism and feudalism
The Dark Ages in England that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire required a new way
of organisation, seeing as the central government (which had been Roman) was now gone.
After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the feudal and manorial systems were born.
The manorial system was an economic and social system involving the exploitation of the
peasants. This is a ‘Lord of the Manor’ type scenario, whereby peasants were allowed to live
within their Lord’s land if they worked on his land for free or offered a share of their crops,
labour or occasionally money. The life of a peasant was based around their Manor, which usually
had a church, a court (the Lord had legal power over his tenants) a village, farmland and a mill.
The Code of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi is the longest
surviving text from the Old Babylonian
period, and is the earliest reference to
landlord-tenant relationships. This dates
as far back as 1792 to 1750 BC. This
code has been found on baked clay
tablets that have survived this long.
Manorialism was a smaller part
of Feudalism...
Feudalism was a system whereby land
was given to nobles in exchange for
military service. The premise was that
everyone owed allegiance to the King of
England as a King was thought of as
being a divine ruler, chosen by God.
However the common law of landlords
and tenant was evolved in England,
through the Middle Ages.
1348
The Black Death
The end of feudalism was partly brought
about by the devastation of the Black
Death plague that descended on
Europe in the middle ages.
Within a year of the onset of plague,
during 1349, a law was passed to
prevent labourers from obtaining
higher wages. Landlords gained at first
from payments on the deaths of their
tenants but rents dwindled, hamlets
were deserted and lands left to ruin
as there was not enough people to
cultivate them.
1166
1290
King John of England was forced to sign
the Magna Carta (1166-1216).
This document marginally curbed the
powers of the King and gave citizens
their first real rights. The rights of the
citizen were to be decided by the law
of the land and not by individuals or
private courts, thus
freeing peasants and
serfs from the complete
control of their Lord.
This paved the way for
the first parliament
in England.
And we bet you haven’t
heard of Quia Emptores
This statute encompassed the spirit of
the monetisation of England, where
money was increasingly being used in
exchange for ‘things’. Quia Emptores
formally allowed the sale and purchase
of land. This meant that
land could be sold from
Lord to peasant and
between peasants.
By the end of the Plague, almost a fifth
of the European population had been
wiped out, killing an estimated 75-200
million people!
Magna Carta
(no, it’s not an ice cream)
Eventually peasants were able to
be choosier about where they
lived and worked, as there were
not enough of them to go around.
“Fast-forward
a little bit…”
Facts
>
1709
Landlord and Tenant Acts
The versions of Landlord and Tenant
Acts date as far back as 1709 in the UK.
This Act, or variations of it across USA
and Hong Kong aim to legislate the
rights and responsibilities of both
landlords and tenants.
Common Law
England exported English Common law
and English Statute law to most parts of
the British Empire. This is why many of
the rental systems are derived from
England, even after Independence.
Real estate broker
1988
“Don’t fall asleep,
it’s just getting
interesting!”
1988 UK Assured Short
Hold Tenancy agreement
In the UK, The Housing Act introduced
the Assured Shorthold Tenancy
Agreement enabling shortterm tenancy agreements
between landlords and
tenants. It was understood
that the rights of the
tenant needed to be
protected, and this went
some way to doing this.
The obligatory online letting agents Property portals
2000s As the popularity of the Internet has grown, so has the (into new property dimensions!)
prevalence of online letting agents. More and more
websites offering online services have popped up in
recent years. Varying models and hybrids of the original
letting agent are still
used, with online
agents managing
as a go-between for
landlords and
tenants. Fees can
still be high.
2013
?
Property portals are now commonplace, as a
vast majority of property searches now begin
online across the world.
These are websites that allow letting agents
and brokers to list properties available to rent
for a fee. Portals can therefore show a large
range of properties available from various
people, companies or agents, to anyone who is
visiting the website. These services have made
it easier for tenants and landlords (especially
tenants looking to move overseas) to browse
properties available on the market.
In the USA, if you’re looking to lease a
property you usually deal with a real
estate broker or pay a subscription to a
listing company. Traditionally the broker
or listing site represents the seller,
marketing their client’s property and
helping to rent it for the best price,
under the best possible terms. In the
United States, the relationship was
originally established by reference to
the English common law of agency.
Estate agents
Estate agents are commonplace in the
UK, and manage transactions between
‘tenant’ and ‘landlord’ as an in-between
party. Agents charge both tenant and
landlord varying fees for their services.
Some world differences
In the US some apartment dwellers can
own their properties via several common
forms of property ownership. These
include co-ops and condominiums.
In a co-op residents own shares in the
corporation that owns the building
whereas in condominiums residents own
their apartment but share public spaces
such as hallways, heating systems,
elevators and exterior areas.
In the UK however, it is generally the case
that an individual owns the apartment
but has shares in the freehold company,
which in turn leases from the Crown for a
specific period of time, usually 99 years.
This form of land ownership is renowned
in all the Commonwealth Nations.
Owners can decide to rent out the
properties to tenants, via more shortterm tenancy agreements.
Completing the evolutionary circuit are (drum roll)
new rental platforms!
Trusted community marketplaces are the next big thing in the rental world,
being part of the new ‘collaborative sharing economy’. This is also referred to
as peer-to-peer rental.
These websites enable renters, owners and traders to easily collaborate, list
and advertise properties, search and arrange viewings, sign agreements online
and simply maintain the property from anywhere in the world. This model is set
to revolutionize the rental market as it cuts out expensive agency fees.
The driving force in this change in the rental market is brought about by a
frustration with current models and the vast costs paid.
They enable quick and easy resolution of problems, offer all the security of
current models via watertight lease agreements, simple management of
maintenance issues and reduce the costs incurred by all.
They make moving easy.