Property expert quits TV show, says tenants need “sensitivity”

One of the lettings industry’s best known faces - Paul Shamplina - is to end his TV series focussing on evictions.

Suggesting he no longer wants to be the public face of evictions in the light of the changing lettings landscape, Shamplina has told industry publication The Negotiator: “Even if Channel 5 were to commission another series of the show then – although the programme has been interesting and exciting to be a part of – I won’t be appearing on it or any other evictions programmes going forward.

“Everyone needs to be sensitive at the moment about tenants, who have taken a battering in recent months as the shortage of stock creates ever-rising rents although of course landlords are facing difficulties too.”

Shamplina - a regular contributor to our sister publication Landlord Today - has appeared in over 70 episodes of Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords over the course of seven years, but says he now wants an image change and would like to appear in the media as a wider property market expert. 

The Channel 5 programme has been exported to Europe, New Zealand and Australia and has been available on Netflix in the USA, but Shamplina’s comments to The Negotiator suggest he has had enough of the downsides.

“Sometimes it’s tough – I’ve been spat at by one disgruntled tenant – but it can also be amazing, and I helped one viewer propose to his girlfriend after he contacted me and asked for help,” he says.

Shamplina’s columns for Landlord Today - which will continue - recently included these comments on the state of the lettings industry: “The challenges being faced by landlords and tenants are greater than I have seen at any point in the last 30 years of working in this industry. My concern is that the needs and desires of tenants and landlords, in many cases, are no longer able to serve each other. 

“Tenants need good quality, safe and affordable rental properties. Landlords need to be able to charge rents which, at the very least, cover their costs, including mortgages, maintenance and management. However, with inflation reaching a 40 year high and interest rates at the highest level since the 2008 financial crash, landlords are leaving the sector at a record rate, compounding the disparity between rental supply and demand.”