Investment Science

The London riots earlier this year were some of the worst riots the UK has ever seen, starting in London and spreading to other major cities including Manchester and Birmingham. The riots were made worse by the fact that there was seemingly no reason to justify the violence including arson of unprecedented levels. In fact, there was an argument that the rioters in the other cities were rioting simply as an excuse for looting — shocking scenes indeed.
This caused panic among landlords in the affected areas, near the affected areas in all the affected cities, and in cities yet to be affected as they nervously watched the news to see where; if anywhere the rioting would spread to next. But are landlords still feeling this panic three months on?
The riots were shocking for everyone the length and breadth of the UK watching them on TV, even more shocking for those on the outskirts of affected areas, and of course, most shocking of all for anyone unlucky enough to have been caught up in them in anyway.
Landlords were affected more than most however. These riots were among the worst in UK history, mainly because of the unprecedented levels of looting and arson. During the riots hundreds of shops were broken into, looted and vandalised, buildings were set on fire, and billions of pounds worth of damage was done across the capital and the other cities rioting spread to. Many of those buildings being broken into, looted or burned down had a landlord or landlords.
The riots were a media circus, and this put pressure on insurance companies to pay out, so most people will have been fully compensated for any losses. But again, these were riots that came out of nothing; a minor protest over a police shooting in one borough (Tottenham) led to almost the entire capital erupting into violence lasting several nights. You cannot compensate for the emotional impact of something like this.
That said, landlords are in the business of making money, and the London property rental market is booming. We also have the London 2012 Olympics coming up. Landlords main concern is whether tenants are still panicked by the riots, and that answer is no. According to many agents most tenants who had viewings cancelled because of the riots went ahead and let the properties in affected areas.