Keir Starmer: Not all landlords are evil

Keir Starmer: Not all landlords are evil

10:02 AM, 1st July 2024, About 5 months ago 55

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In a heated interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, Keir Starmer declared, “not all landlords are evil,” but slammed some for driving up rents through bidding wars.

The Labour leader took questions from listeners and presenter Nicky Campbell on various issues including housing.

Labour’s manifesto pledges to abolish Section 21 immediately and strengthen tenants’ rights in challenging rent increases.

Build 1.5 million new homes

Mr Starmer took a question from a listener asking about her housing association property and how she could get on the housing ladder.

The Labour leader repeated Labour’s manifesto pledge to build 1.5 million new homes over the next Parliament by building on brownfield sites.

Keir Starmer emphasised the need for lower mortgage premiums, pointing out that many renters pay more in rent than they would for a mortgage but can’t afford the initial savings to secure one.

Tackle the rental sector

The Labour leader insists that under a Labour government, bidding wars would be made illegal.

This is despite critics dismissing the plan as “ineffective” due to a loophole allowing tenants to still make ‘voluntary’ higher offers.

Mr Starmer told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We also need to tackle the rental sector. As you know private landlords are often getting tenants or would-be tenants to bid against each other in an upward spiral and that means rent goes up and up and up.”

Mr Starmer adds: “Young people or people who want to buy their own home are paying a massive amount of their income in rent, and we have to stop that happening. There are very huge deposits as well that are being taken from people.”

Nothing against being a landlord

Nicky Campbell interrupted and challenged Mr Starmer and asked: “This all landlords are evil thing, these are working people.”

Mr Starmer hit back and said: “No, it’s not all landlords are evil. There’s nothing against your property and being a landlord and nothing wrong with setting a good rent that gives you a good income.

“Many people do it on a big or a small scale as a pension safeguard and I understand that.

“However, we can’t simply leave out of account what is happening nowadays, where the rents are just going up because there are more people who need to rent than there are places to rent, and the prices are just going through the roof.”

You can listen to the exchange by clicking here and listening from 33:45


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Simon Lever - Chartered Accountant helping clients get the best returns from their properties

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12:38 PM, 22nd July 2024, About 4 months ago

"Not all landlords are evil"

by the same token not all politicians are liars.

Yellard

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11:29 AM, 5th August 2024, About 4 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Reluctant Landlord at 01/07/2024 - 11:02
Yep, you have been proved right and the stupid idea of completely abolishing fixed term is still coming.
A more moderate sensible reform would be all new tenancies are 12 months AST probationary before automatically becoming Assured Tenancies. A small minority of landlords might choose to "churn their tenants" every 12 months but this could be discouraged by taxing the first 12 months higher. This tax would not be hard to administer. A landlord who wants the probationary period (not all landlords would want it) would be required to purchase a licence online or from the Post Office and attach it to the tenancy contract. I suggest Landlords write to their MP's to suggest my above proposal even if it's with gritted teeth. It's the best we can hope for and it is the best interest of many tenants, such as newly arrived immigrants, the young, people on secondments /internees who will find it very difficult to secure an immediate Assured Tenancy life long tenancy.

Beaver

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15:56 PM, 5th August 2024, About 4 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Yellard at 05/08/2024 - 11:29
If you've got the right to live and rent in the UK then you have the right to live and rent in the UK.

I don't really have much difficulty with the idea of renting to immigrants as my best ever tenant was one. But my lender would not permit me to let my property to immigrants/asylum seekers who did not have the right to rent and my landlords' insurance would not permit me to do it either. So I'm really not quite sure what this proposal would add.

I also can't see HMRC being able to cope with this proposal for a differential tax to be applied to tenancies within the first twelve months; if I've understood the proposal correctly that is.

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14:12 PM, 11th August 2024, About 3 months ago

Obfuscated Data

Stella

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16:33 PM, 11th August 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Teg's Dad at 11/08/2024 - 14:12
I would also like to know how Rachel Reeves and Sir Kneel plan to grow the economy if companies investing in the UK cannot find suitable accommodation for their employees when they relocate especially if they have families.

When tenants suddenly realise that the flexibility and choice that they have enjoyed for the past 36 years is not there and they have to stay put due to the lack of supply I doubt that they will be writing thank you notes to this government!

I

Beaver

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10:56 AM, 12th August 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Teg's Dad at 11/08/2024 - 14:12
Where I live tenants are offering a higher rent than the advertised rent in order to secure the property. And they are sometimes offering some of the rent in advance. If you've got the rent in advance then clearly that reduces your risk but clearly as a landlord/agent you've also got checks to undertake to ensure that the tenant(s) can pay the rent going forward.

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12:46 PM, 12th August 2024, About 3 months ago

Obfuscated Data

PH

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13:08 PM, 12th August 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Teg's Dad at 12/08/2024 - 12:46
I agree. I'm too suspicious to think differently.

Beaver

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13:12 PM, 12th August 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by PH at 12/08/2024 - 13:08
I didn't say that I'm not suspicious. If somebody offered me a higher rent to secure the property I would want to carry out checks to ensure that they actually could pay it on time and in full.

However, at the moment the law does not permit us to take more than a 5 week deposit and taking rent in advance, if offered, does substantially reduce the risk.

PH

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13:47 PM, 12th August 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 12/08/2024 - 13:12
You meet the prospective tenant and immediately start to guage them as people and if you think they are trustworthy or not. If you conclude that they seem decent well presented people then I suppose that rent paid months in advance does have it's advantages and they may see it as putting themselves in the driving seat for selection over everyone else but what I'm saying is that my suspicious mind would probably get the better of me so I wouldn't necessarily place them top of the pile.

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