oh dear (tm): Generation rent: the housing ladder starts to collapse for the under-40

[AtW]

This thread will never reach 1000 posts...

[tractor]

Why should the owner of a house that rents it out be forced into giving discount and right to buy.

Following that logic if you are a regular in the pub the landlord should give you free beer.
Or MS should get 50% discount on a Big Mac.

They are operating legally, fairly (mostly) and providing a valuable service.

Renting is a business. 30-40% of people use it, if there are issues with the way the business works then legislate but don't kill it because you will have millions of people to house.

The people that are paying to maintain the housing stock and employing tradesmen will stop doing that, the tax paid on rents will disappear, the costs of emergency housing are incredible and will cripple most councils. If you come down hard on it the banks will foreclose and be the only winners.

Now compared to a landlord renting out their new wife's flat at a fair rent barely covering the mortgage as a pension scheme and a high street bank I know which I would prefer to make a profit.

I say again we need more houses and better control of tenants & Landlords that misbehave.

Why should those that cannot get a mortgage be forced to buy a landlord another house?

If its a business then tax it as such, full CT and CGT on disposal. No tax relief on mortgage interest whatsoever.

All the problems you detail above would never have occurred with the German model for renters. It is this ridiculous runaway house price inflation, decade upon decade that has caused a situation where people who wish to find it difficult to afford a deposit.

[vetran]

most BTL Landlords don't pay much tax on rent if at all, which is part of the problem. For that matter i don't believe there is much tax from rents going to the exchequer. Stamp duty on the constant sales and inflated GDP is a different matter.

many do, especially those that have a mature portfolio will. Even if they don't they will pay for other things that wouldn't be bought if the house was owned, these will attract tax.

Of course many of the BTLs are houses in Multiple occupation, its extremely difficult to get a mortgage for a room. So a ten room house would have to be converted to a 5 flat house. Where are the other 5 tenants going to go?

[MicrosoftBob]

many do, especially those that have a mature portfolio will. Even if they don't they will pay for other things that wouldn't be bought if the house was owned, these will attract tax.

Of course many of the BTLs are houses in Multiple occupation, its extremely difficult to get a mortgage for a room. So a ten room house would have to be converted to a 5 flat house. Where are the other 5 tenants going to go?

In a shed in the garden ?

[vetran]

Why should those that cannot get a mortgage be forced to buy a landlord another house?

If its a business then tax it as such, full CT and CGT on disposal. No tax relief on mortgage interest whatsoever.

All the problems you detail above would never have occurred with the German model for renters. It is this ridiculous runaway house price inflation, decade upon decade that has caused a situation where people who wish to find it difficult to afford a deposit.

the German model evolved over decades, this suggestion is a complete change in a very short time.

If you want to change it then do it gradually and allow people to adjust.

As mentioned before the idea that putting BTL owners into bankruptcy is going to result in lots of cheap houses is a fantasy. They will be swallowed up by others with deeper pockets than the tenants.

[vetran]

In a shed in the garden ?

or Hyde Park

[VectraMan]

If they could buy it when they moved in then they should have.

They couldn't buy when they moved in as to buy you need a deposit, and you can't save a deposit whilst renting because the rents are so high. And the rents are so high because the house prices are so high because of the BTL scum are buying all the houses knowing the rents are high enough to cover the mortgage they can get because they have the deposit. And so the gap between the rich and poor widens: anybody with some money can make more money off of somebody else's misery.

You have a point about building more houses (though new houses are often snapped up by BTL'ers), but in theory that's only required to keep up with the population increase. There's enough houses, more or less, it's just that lots of them are in the wrong hands. Move lots of tenants from rent-slavery to mortgage slavery in the same house and you don't need any more houses.

[VectraMan]

many do, especially those that have a mature portfolio will.

Can we have a tax on anyone who uses the word "portfolio".

[tractor]

....

the German model evolved over decades, this suggestion is a complete change in a very short time.

If you want to change it then do it gradually and allow people to adjust.


As mentioned before the idea that putting BTL owners into bankruptcy is going to result in lots of cheap houses is a fantasy. They will be swallowed up by others with deeper pockets than the tenants.

We did, but we gradually changed it from a better place to what it is now. In the 70's there were proper rent controls, laws and protected and assured tenancies. Now, there are none and it is the fault of NL as much as the Tories.

No, people in social housing should not get cheap rents either, they should pay the going rate, but today the going rate is a joke and will never get better until you spend the same amount of time reversing the trend so that many of the problems go away.

No one has to be put in bankruptcy for the situation to become fairer on the people who wish to but cannot buy.

An 'unoccupied' tax would help too. Make it 10% of the dwelling value pa. That would free up about half a million homes in the country.

[vetran]

They couldn't buy when they moved in as to buy you need a deposit, and you can't save a deposit whilst renting because the rents are so high. And the rents are so high because the house prices are so high because of the BTL scum are buying all the houses knowing the rents are high enough to cover the mortgage they can get because they have the deposit. And so the gap between the rich and poor widens: anybody with some money can make more money off of somebody else's misery.

You have a point about building more houses (though new houses are often snapped up by BTL'ers), but in theory that's only required to keep up with the population increase. There's enough houses, more or less, it's just that lots of them are in the wrong hands. Move lots of tenants from rent-slavery to mortgage slavery in the same house and you don't need any more houses.

Maybe the Renting scum waste all their money on Tabs & whippets instead of saving for a deposit?

The new flats & houses are being brought as an investment by Companies. Many will never be lived in.

Foreign investors snap up 70% of all new build homes in central London | This is Money

BTLers are housing millions, many who will never buy even if they could afford it.

If they can't save for a deposit renting maybe they can save when they lived at their parents house like we did?

For those restarting then maybe the process needs to include changes for this.