Crime-fighting West Midlands Police couple swap police patrol for property

From drug raids to murder investigations - Lyndon and Ann Whitehouse have tackle some of the toughest crimes in the Black Country.

But the married couple, both aged 56, have handed in the handcuffs to try the world of property letting, which has so far seen nothing but success.

Earlier this year, they opened their first letting agent shop in Griffiths Drive, Wednesfield, called L&A Lettings after parts their own home had been converted into offices for the business.

The pair put their expertise in the field down to the skills they both picked up in the police.

"During the course of the 30 years in the police we've both developed quite good skills at assessing people, he said. "And that's what bears us in good stead when we're interviewing potential tenants.

"I employ some ex-police officers because they are comfortable saying to people in their own homes with respect 'we're not renting to you'.

"We've all dealt with people who are trying to have us over - criminals, fraudsters - so it holds us in good stead if we think someone might be planning to use a property for a cannabis factory or something like that."

"The responsibility to all of us is to rent to people who we can trust who will do three things for us – look after the property, pay the rent, and cause no anti-social behaviour for our neighbours."

The company currently has a team of six working at the agents including manager and son of Lynon and Ann, Richard as well as apprentice Bethany.

Their work has been met with glowing reviews from Wolverhampton council and they are aiming for a five star rating under the Rent in Confidence scheme – an initiative to rate local agents and landlords in the city.

During his time in the police, Mr Whitehouse was a detective sergeant so spent most of his time in the Vice and CID squads.

In 1997, Wolverhampton and Nottingham Police piloted a scheme for the home office associated with child prostitution. In an 18 month period, 91 adults were arrested for offences against children and 72 were convicted. And Lyndon's work resulted in him meeting Tony Blair and his wife at Downing Street.

He added: "The police force was a major, major part of life. I used to deal with murders and all sorts and I'd get calls out of hours and even cancel holidays to deal with stuff. But I love what I do now too.

"Now we're bumping into people who we used to be on opposite sides of the fence with and now some of these people want to be on the same side because they want to rent off us.

"We often come into contact with our so called former 'customers' which is OK and we have a bit of a laugh about it when those kind of things happen."

"I'm never going to retire because I love it. I couldn't imagine getting up in the morning and having nothing to do."