Generation Rent blames landlords for soaring rent prices outpacing wages

Reply to the comment left by Ryan Stevens at 20/09/2024 - 10:00
To Ryan Stevens,

Nothing in what I have said can have given you reason to think that I am a proponent of communism or excessive regulation.

My basic point is that British landlords do not understand what renting out a property means. It means that you have given a property you own, at a rental charge agreed between you, to be that renter's home. Currently, landlords in Britain do not understand the purport of the latter fact. The purport is that you cannot disrupt your renter's right to consider your property to be his home: he is paying your for that right. You as the owner of that property simply may not curtail that right because it suits you.

Reply to the comment left by Sophie Johnson at 20/09/2024 - 11:51
I would beg to differ, your suggested approach only works if landlords are willing to give up their rights of ownership. I for one would sell, I am not willing to give up my rights.

It can already take a year to get a tenant out, why would I risk never being able to get a tenant out?

I have already had a case of one tenant family who stopped paying, it took me 6 months to get them out. In the meantime, I had to pay the mortgage, all property costs and legal fees and this is under a regime where landlords supposedly have a few rights left. Why would I take the risk of renting out if I have even less right to take my property back if I need to?

Reply to the comment left by Sophie Johnson at 20/09/2024 - 11:51
Incidentally. my properties have all been rented out long term, unless the tenants decide to leave (rare). Why would I want to change tenants if they are paying market rent (some are below, but my decision, not the government's) and are not causing issues?

The only time I would sell is if I am told I cannot ask for market rent, or if my circumstances change eg I need the money, I want to retire, or if it becomes too much hassle and too little reward to be a landlord compared with, for example, putting the money into another investment/pension scheme.

Reply to the comment left by Sophie Johnson at 20/09/2024 - 12:53
Don't worry, I (and many others) will.

As I say, this will result in higher, not lower rents, so I hope you will be happy.

In places such as Germany and Switzerland I believe that mortgage interest is fully deductible for tax purposes, so rent can be lower. In England we have a punitive tax system for residential landlords, which forces them to charge more rent.

Reply to the comment left by Sophie Johnson at 20/09/2024 - 12:53
Why exactly are you advocating homelessness?
It is the landlords house and the tenants home.
Pretty much all of us know that and work with that in mind, but take away our ability to retrieve our asset if situations change and we won't offer that asset up.
NO ONE evicts a tenant because they feel like it.
That's on par with having a pub and saying "today I'm not selling beer" - it makes no sense.
To wish away hardworking longstanding landlords with a decent size portfolio just because they are worried about their business stacking up or worse being taken away from them is insane.
If I sell my house it goes to an owner occupier simply because if I sell it to another landlord they pay 3% extra stamp duty and they will pay less with a sitting tenant as it's an unknown.
Sell a rental property to an owner occupier and that is one less rental property on the market.
One less family who can rent a house.
One more in emergency accommodation.
Councils do not have enough social housing.
Housing associations are growing in size as are corporate landlords.
When these reach a certain size they are a law unto themselves as councils and government can't afford to shut them down.
Careful what you wish for.

Reply to the comment left by Keith Wellburn at 20/09/2024 - 11:47
And no response from Sophie, who doesn’t like excessive regulation, on the point that it is acceptable to let property in Germany without any kitchen provision whilst in the UK the age of the kitchen fittings are going to be proscribed in law - yet studying overseas rental markets is supposedly key to us UK landlords understanding the business we’ve been in for decades and negates any need for Sophie to look a little deeper into the specifics driving our rental market.

Reply to the comment left by Keith Wellburn at 20/09/2024 - 18:52
Strange that isn't it. When faced with the truth spoken in a logical way the outspoken politicians and tenants ( of which Sophie is one) have no real response and the emotive post gets deleted.
We are right, and we are the good guys, and history will show that. By then though we will be gone and the likes of Sophie will be left scratching her head and blaming someone else for her situation.
I wondering if we should all sell and pool our resources to buy an island somewhere.
Having just written that sentence flippantly I suddenly realise that's not actually a bad plan.
We have a huge amount of unrealised wealth amongst us.
I have no problem sitting in a bar somewhere sunny moaning to fellow ex landlords blaming Sophie.
Wine powered daft comments I know - but it's worth a thought.

Reply to the comment left by Sophie Johnson at 19/09/2024 - 20:47
Just scanning the comments and laughed out loud about landlording becoming too profitable. If it was so profitable then there would be more competition and rents would fall. This is the way the market works, indeed all markets that are not state controlled. It's basic economics. The simple fact is that it is now better to have your money in the bank as you get a better return, it carries much less risk and is so much easier.

Reply to the comment left by Sophie Johnson at 19/09/2024 - 20:47
"Comparable locations in Germany and France"

From your silly comments I doubt you have any real world experience, cherry picking the best bits for tenants and ignoring the responsibilities. I've lived in both countries.

For example, with the rented flat in Germany, there was a putzfrau rota for the communal areas. Once a week before work, tenants had to mop the stairs, clean the communal windows, litter pick, dust, and in the winter, clear the snow from the pavement in front of the building.

Try writing that into a UK tenancy agreement!

ALL THE QUESTIONS TO THE INCAPABLE LUNATICS IN THE GOVERNMENT....