DOOM: London

[AtW]

"Bidding wars, cash up-front and ‘auditions’ – inside Britain’s broken renting market

Young professionals seeking private rental property tell of ‘hundreds’ applying for the same let

Beth Holloway seems like the ideal tenant. The civil servant, 23, has a stable job, good references and earns a decent salary. And she doesn’t smoke or have pets – factors that are often a disadvantage in a fiercely competitive market.

But after three months of flat-hunting in London, involving hundreds of enquiries to agencies, two dozen viewings and 10 offers on properties, she says she cannot take it any more. Each time she and the friend she had planned to live with put in an offer on a property, they were outbid by someone else. “We’ve offered £200 over [the listed price] and not got it because someone else offered six months upfront. I’ve heard of people offering £500 or £600 over or offering to pay a year upfront in cash,” she said.

At other times, she has arrived at pre-arranged viewings to find 15 people in the queue before her. Or worse: she has called to try for a viewing and been told that the property is already gone, despite it being posted online only minutes earlier. “We just got to breaking point,” Holloway said. “Everyone went, ‘Renting in London is going to be hard’, and I was like, ‘Yeah, OK.’ But I didn’t realise how bad it was. It’s absolutely crazy.”

Holloway is one of thousands caught up in what campaigners are calling the “cost of renting crisis”. High demand and lack of housing supply have led to landlords and agencies raising rents to record levels at a time when soaring energy prices and rising inflation mean millions are already struggling to keep up with bills."

https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...renting-market

[SueEllen]

Oh well when there are no cleaners, teachers etc then a government may do something. It won't be before the next election though...

[ladymuck]

My problem when I was looking was less about bidding wars and more about not wanting to live in a hovel. It took about 3-4 weeks to find the right place that was available at a price I was willing to pay.

[NotAllThere]

There was an article about this in the Times a week or so ago. Apparently the trick is to get known by the agents so they tip you off before it's publicly advertised.

[tazdevil]

Get out of London, there'll be a glut of reduced price new executive homes available soon given the current building splurge and incoming economic shock Plenty of jobs outside of London too as everywhere I look employers are desperately seeking workers Trying to find people to do anything is nigh on impossible around me in North Yorkshire

[pjt]

"Bidding wars, cash up-front and ‘auditions’ – inside Britain’s broken renting market

Young professionals seeking private rental property tell of ‘hundreds’ applying for the same let

Beth Holloway seems like the ideal tenant. The civil servant, 23, has a stable job, good references and earns a decent salary. And she doesn’t smoke or have pets – factors that are often a disadvantage in a fiercely competitive market.

But after three months of flat-hunting in London, involving hundreds of enquiries to agencies, two dozen viewings and 10 offers on properties, she says she cannot take it any more. Each time she and the friend she had planned to live with put in an offer on a property, they were outbid by someone else. “We’ve offered £200 over [the listed price] and not got it because someone else offered six months upfront. I’ve heard of people offering £500 or £600 over or offering to pay a year upfront in cash,” she said.

At other times, she has arrived at pre-arranged viewings to find 15 people in the queue before her. Or worse: she has called to try for a viewing and been told that the property is already gone, despite it being posted online only minutes earlier. “We just got to breaking point,” Holloway said. “Everyone went, ‘Renting in London is going to be hard’, and I was like, ‘Yeah, OK.’ But I didn’t realise how bad it was. It’s absolutely crazy.”

Holloway is one of thousands caught up in what campaigners are calling the “cost of renting crisis”. High demand and lack of housing supply have led to landlords and agencies raising rents to record levels at a time when soaring energy prices and rising inflation mean millions are already struggling to keep up with bills."

https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...renting-market

Over the past few years the government has continually punished BTL landlords with increasing costs and burocracy. It was obvious this would be the outcome longer term as a lot have either sold up or stopped buying. Who exactly did they think was going to supply the properties if it wasn't BTL landlords.

[SueEllen]

Over the past few years the government has continually punished BTL landlords with increasing costs and burocracy. It was obvious this would be the outcome longer term as a lot have either sold up or stopped buying. Who exactly did they think was going to supply the properties if it wasn't BTL landlords.

The mythical being.

Anyway what is the Tories next enemy?

[hugebrain]

Over the past few years the government has continually punished BTL landlords with increasing costs and burocracy. It was obvious this would be the outcome longer term as a lot have either sold up or stopped buying. Who exactly did they think was going to supply the properties if it wasn't BTL landlords.

And rewarded them with negative interest rates (currently the lowest real rates in history) and generous benefits (up to 200,000 Euros for new boilers etc.). I’m thinking of buying a few properties, just because landlords are so favored by the government it could be a good way of sheltering from the recession.

Do landlords supply properties?