This is not to say that all landlords are inherently evil people. Rather the decision to enter a system that consistently favors property rights over human rights is a questionable one at best, and this system means that the concept of landlords (in my opinion) cannot be argued as 'good'. Landlords have an inherently parasitic relationship with society. They provide no useful labor or skill, and provide nothing of value, instead choosing a method of absentee ownership to make money off working citizens who need shelter. It is argued that landlords take the risk of the having to upkeep the property and invest into its repair, and whilst this is somewhat true, the existence of deposits means that this risk is placed upon the tenant. Landlording is different from other investments, in that it is one that profits off a basic human need. It is not risking your money to buy stocks or develop a new product, it is risking your money to charge people for shelter when an estimated 8.4 million people in the UK are living in an 'unaffordable, insecure or unsuitable home. [1]' This was in 2019, no doubt the number has risen since the pandemic. When an eviction takes place, one party (the landlord) is losing out on payments for a second property, whilst the other (the tenant) is losing out on shelter required for survival. Often landlords have no other source of income other than rent, whereas the tenants will be working 9-5 to be able to afford paying that rent. What makes this whole system even more immoral to me is the idea that landlords will often have a mortgage on their second home, and are therefore charging their tenants to pay of a loan they willingly chose to take out. As I said before, I don't necessarily think landlords as people are bad people, I think the concept of landlords is a failure of capitalism, and of the government not doing enough to ensure its people have an acceptable standard of shelter. There are no good landlords, because the system of landlording is in my opinion, not a good thing. REFERENCING [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49787913#:~:text=Housing%20crisis%20affects%20estimated%208.4%20million%20in%20England%20%2D%20research,-22%20September%202019&text=An%20estimated%208.4%20million%20people,to%20the%20National%20Housing%20Federation.&text=The%20government%20said%20housing%20was,430%2C000%20affordable%20homes%20since%202010.

If you believe that the concept of landlords is not beneficial to society. Then what do you suggest they do? I have personally had good and (very) bad landlords. Landlords are protecting their assets or their clients' assets. I believe rather than blaming landlords we need to fix the system and make it more people-orientated rather than asset-orientated. The landlords are not the problem, they are just taking advantage of a system that puts them first. I think in certain situations most people would do the same.

It's important to note that "there are no good landlords" is not the same proposition as "no otherwise-good people are landlords"; arguably, "there are no good landlords" is even compatible with a stronger contention like "many landlords are good people." What it means is that no-one is good qua landlord; no landlord is good *in their capacity as a landlord.*

As long as there is a demand for rented accommodation, landlords provide a useful function. No landlords means no renting. I think there are perhaps 3 conditions for being a good landlord: A good landlord is a legitimately-wealthy person who increases the supply of accommodation (e.g. by buying up a semi-derelict building and converting it into one or more habitable dwellings for rent Or by renting out part of a building that would otherwise remain vacant, such as an unused flat above a shop). A good landlord asks reasonable contract terms and abides by the agreed terms of the contract. (E.g. keeps the property in good repair). A good landlord makes only a modest profit on his time, effort and capital employed. (Of course these conditions apply equally to the state as a potential landlord. Principles apply to everyone). If you agree with me that any of these expresses a real moral difference between good and bad landlords then good landlords can in principle exist.