Trust is the key for doctoral student Jon

University of Northampton, doctoral student, Jon Maumy, credits his studies with helping him launch a platform, which could change the face of the landlord and tenant relationship, for the better.

After a highly successful career as a helicopter pilot in the Royal Navy, Jon joined the University of Northampton to study for his Doctor of Business Administration (DBA). The Northampton DBA study is focused around facilitated workshops, which provide the academic foundations for a doctoral research project, the main element of the DBA, which is the professional equivalent to a PhD.

It was during his preparation for his first DBA module, that Jon found his inspiration to expand his existing property rental business. Jon’s research showed clear discrepancies between the public perceptions and the actual experiences of both landlords and tenants in the private rented sector.

Talking about this, Jon said: “The DBA programme is designed to cultivate the business and academic skills needed to identify and creatively solve business challenges. The DBA has given me the academic direction to explore the private rented sector and as a result of this research – and the support from my tutors at Northampton – I believe my business and tenants have already seen a direct benefit.

“As a landlord myself, the academic research into the rental market was fascinating. Public perception and media coverage paints a gloomy picture of what life is like. Landlords, and tenants alike, harbour some distinct fears of each other, which are, on the whole, not the reality, and I feel this has resulted in a negative perception of the sector.

“This negativity isn’t reflected in my experience as a private landlord, and the academic research dispels these a lot of these myths. The vast majority of both tenants and landlords are good, decent people that have forged great relationships. For example, according to the 2018 English Private Landlord Survey the majority deposits are returned – in full – to the tenant and the English Housing Survey states 84% of private renters were either satisfied or very satisfied with their current accommodation. As a landlord, I felt I had to do something to demonstrate this reality whilst helping improve the standards for tenants where I can.”

Research findings and his own experiences as a landlord with a portfolio of properties led entrepreneurial Jon to launch Tenancy Trust, a new online review platform, which aims to help responsible landlords, and tenants, to achieve 5-star status by fairly reviewing each other.

Jon said: “The internet is full of one-sided ways to leave feedback about people’s experiences. I developed Tenancy Trust as a way to build the trust between all parties in the rental sector, by promoting honest conversations and reviews and helping improve the trust between landlord and tenant. I would also like the platform to potentially raise standards across the board by holding everyone accountable.”

Since the launch of Tenancy Trust, Jon has seen hundreds of landlords, letting agents and tenants sign up to the service and reap the benefits, he said: “Owning your own home isn’t possible for everyone, but the financial commitment to a rental relationship is huge and Tenancy Trust alleviates some of that pressure.”

“Tenancy Trust allows responsible landlords to use reviews in a positive way to show their commitment to offering tenants the best possible home, as well as attracting the best tenants. For Tenants, they can display reviews from previous landlords to demonstrate they’re a great tenant.”

As a continuation of his research, Jon is now exploring satisfaction levels of tenants, which hopes will give valuable insights into what can be done to improve the quality of life for those in rented accommodation such as ‘generation rent’. Jon said: “As a landlord, you can only guess what your tenant needs, I hope my research will show the common aspects to renting that are most important to tenants, which I can share with other responsible landlords, like myself, to help them make simple changes for the benefit of their tenants.”