Rent controls - good or bad?

[Hippogriff]

I fully understand why they want to buy cheap properties and rent them out, but that doesn't change the fact that they are using their wealth to acquire property and that action prevents the younger generation from acquiring wealth through home ownership.

 

Hmm. I genuinely think you are presuming too much. Who said anything about the properties being bought being cheap? I would assume that a lot of the 78% of Landlords with 1 property will undoubtedly be letting out their former home, not going out and buying anything to let out at all. That implies, to me, that they would be well-maintained, cared-for and could be, or could not be, cheap. We just don't know.

 

I think your angst is aimed at big-time Landlords who, as you say, buy up lots of cheaper, run-down properties and then do nothing, or very little, to bring them back up to the grade. I'd want to think that most Landlords let out good properties and very much appreciate Tenants who look after their asset.

 

---------- Post added 27-04-2015 at 09:38 ----------

 

Which means they own two dwellings more than the people that are forced to rent from them.

 

OK, but - again - they aren't landed gentry. They weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth and an estate, mostly they will have just worked hard to acquire plenty of money that allowed them to buy property, or they could have inherited it... I can't imagine anyone would say people shouldn't be allowed to spend their money on what they want... whether that be property or not.

[loraward]

Hmm. I genuinely think you are presuming too much. Who said anything about the properties being bought being cheap? I would assume that a lot of the 78% of Landlords with 1 property will undoubtedly be letting out their former home, not going out and buying anything to let out at all. That implies, to me, that they would be well-maintained, cared-for and could be, or could not be, cheap. We just don't know.

 

I think your angst is aimed at big-time Landlords who, as you say, buy up lots of cheaper, run-down properties and then do nothing, or very little, to bring them back up to the grade. I'd want to think that most Landlords let out good properties and very much appreciate Tenants who look after their asset.

 

---------- Post added 27-04-2015 at 09:38 ----------

 

 

OK, but - again - they aren't landed gentry. They weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth and an estate, mostly they will have just worked hard to acquire plenty of money that allowed them to buy property, or they could have inherited it... I can't imagine anyone would say people shouldn't be allowed to spend their money on what they want... whether that be property or not.

 

Landed gentry is a largely historical privileged British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income.

 

The country was moving away from the landed gentry by making it possible for more and more people to buy into home ownership, that trend as gone into reverse with the privileged buying up affordable properties to rent out to the less privileged. Here's a though, when you want to move sell the house you no longer want to live in and buy one you do want to live in then everyone gets the chance to own the home they live in.

[Hippogriff]

Thanks, I know what landed gentry is.

 

These people doing BTL are unlikely to be privileged, they are [more than] hard-working and conscientious.

 

I'll quote some more from that Government report, as I am finding it interesting reading...

 

"The majority (54%) of dwellings met the Decent Homes Standard though this rose to nearly three-quarters (74%) for those let by new landlords."

 

"Almost four-fifths (79%) of all landlords earned less than a quarter of their income from letting properties in the private rented sector with 21% of all landlords earned no income at all."

 

"Only 3% of private individual landlords owned five or more dwellings."

 

What I read here is that newer Landlords are probably a bit more professional than the old-school type. This is possibly because they are more up on the legislation and they adhere to it, therefore they do things like protect deposits, have EPCs and maintain their properties to a high standard. I also read that the idea that it's really lucrative is not the case... and it would be a rare Landlord, indeed, who solely lives off rental income alone.

 

I don't see a problem with the way things are currently. I see the "haves" working hard to have. I see the "have nots" moaning about not having and hoping that someone else will do something to help them to have.

[psynuk]

Isn't this what most people and businesses would do - whatever they can to maintain their income? Charities, even.

 

Many are like that, but there's a difference in the rental market because your dealing with peoples homes and lives. Maybe a higher level of decency should be expected from landlords than other business types.

 

All of the proposals that I've read seem kinda well intentioned, but it still all boils down to a few factors; the daft policy of the last few decades of not replacing sold council stock, peoples urge to leave home/not live in shared accommodation before having a deposit, peoples desire for other stuff, starting a family before sorting a deposit. Also peoples understandable desire for a plan for their twilight years.

 

I know this sounds harsh, but it's not that hard to buy a house, It's not that hard to save a deposit, It's not that hard to not act like a financial idiot.

People generally have themselves to blame for their problems in this country.

 

You can rent a fully inclusive room for £216 p/m, a full house for £300pm

You can buy a house for £40k (£20k for further away)

You can get a mortgage with 2k deposit, thats 1 year saving £38p/w to then pay £220 pm to buy a starter home.

 

If you can't manage to do that in this country there's something wrong with you. And that's all private! I'm sure council houses are even cheaper to rent

[Harrystottle]

Buy to let is a curse, imo. It appears to skew the rental market and reward landlords; not so sure about the tenants.

 

As far as Labour go though, this is just another day, another promise. About the only thing they haven't promised is a guaranteed lottery win for everybody and a cure for all known diseases.

[Justin Smith]

More landlords buying up the available properties will just increase the number of people needing to rent.

 

I don`t think you understand why people rent, they rent because they can`t afford to buy (generally because they have a poor credit rating and/or they can`t afford the deposit) but also because they may not actually want to buy, particularly if they have to be flexible about where they live. Which, incidentally, makes the Labour idea of minimum 3 year tenancies even more stupid.

At the end of the day you can`t buck the market. I`m no fan of Thatcher but she was absolutely right with that one.

I reiterate my advice to anyone thinking of going into "buy to let", unless you`re a laid back kind of person who doesn`t get upset at some awful tenant purposefully screwing you (and yes, in my experience they do it on purpose, it isn`t generally a tenant who just falls on hard times) don`t bother with it. If you want to invest in property just buy a more expensive house for yourself.

[illuminati9]

wasting time. just check the betting and you know conservative is going to win by a long way. labour is just wasting time and money

[geared]

also because they may not actually want to buy, particularly if they have to be flexible about where they live. Which, incidentally, makes the Labour idea of minimum 3 year tenancies even more stupid.

 

I didn't want to buy for a good number of years, renting is a nice, comfortable option in that way.

 

It's not your house, if the boiler explodes, the water pipe leaks or the washing machine packs in you just get onto the landlord (our was excellent at sorting problems to be fair)

 

Buy your own place and all that crap falls on your shoulders, thats alot more responsibility and some people just don't want that.

[poppet2]

Why should BTL landlords be subsidised by the taxpayer and get tax relief?

[truman]

Why should BTL landlords be subsidised by the taxpayer and get tax relief?

 

Lots of businesses get tax relief on lots of things...isn't BTL just a business?