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AIBU?

To think it's selfish to deliberately plan to rent out the old house when you buy a new

343 replies

jdoe8 · 27/02/2017 08:08

I understand why people do it, its dog eat dog out there and people look after number 1 even if it means it screws others.

But how are the next generation going to ever afford to buy if people carry on doing this?

This makes for depressing reading especially the comments - www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/26/the-sad-cost-of-renting-never-having-somewhere-to-call-home

I don't believe any generation worked any harder, you just had to be lucky and in the right place at the right time. Its very well to say just rent but renters have such poor rights in the UK it's very undesirable.

OP posts:
CrimsonKing · 27/02/2017 08:12

I agree with you that renters should have more long term rights. I disagree with you that owning your own home is a right in itself.

Life is inherently unfair. There are more important things we need to worry about as a society rather than home ownership. Education, healthcare, social welfare etc.

londonrach · 27/02/2017 08:14

Agree with you totally. We escaped the rent trap last year.

Truckingalong · 27/02/2017 08:15

Yes but I bet that if the shoe were on the other foot, your worthy principles would take a back seat.

Sugarlumps333 · 27/02/2017 08:16

What's your point OP? (Link not working and I am purposefully off the guardian at the moment with all their clickbait drivel and donation requests) that people shouldn't be landlords? I agree that the situation for current (my) generation trying to buy homes is absolutely shockingly bleak and shit, but if i had the chance to own / rent / make money on property I would do it too. There are so many factors involved in current situation.

VintagePerfumista · 27/02/2017 08:16

Renters need more rights. (I rent)

That has nothing to do with people deciding what to do with their own property which they have acquired with their own money.

Renters (like me) are blaming the wrong people in this argument. We should be taking it out on successive governments and local authorities for not providing affordable housing stock. Not on the people who have managed to save up enough money to own more than one property.

Ragwort · 27/02/2017 08:17

I appreciate it is a moral dilema; we are fortunate enough to have a second property which we rent out, but we keep the rent below 'market value' and it is situated near a hospital so we get hospital workers as tenants; we have not increased the rent in over five years and always redecorate, repair, replace items etc immediately they are needed.

Bluntness100 · 27/02/2017 08:19

I see nothing wrong with being a landlord, someone has to be and always has. I've been both a renter and a landlord, and I don't agree the renter rights are the issue, I've seen tenants ruin a property , and cost a bomb in repairs, and I've seen landlords effectively do the same via poor maintenance. Unpleasant people certainly exist on both sides.

Vanillaradio · 27/02/2017 08:20

OK. I'll bite. I did this because when I bought a house with dh my old flat had crashed in price so much that I would have lost a lot of money selling it. The market rent was charged which didn't quite cover the mortgage letting fee and service charge . 4 years later it has recovered in value and we are selling.

luckylucky24 · 27/02/2017 08:23

Renters right have nothing to do with people renting one house out whilst buying another. Some people may struggle to sell their house but NEED to live elsewhere. Renting that house out solves the problem. I think renters rights are another issue entirely.

gtyrfctsrght · 27/02/2017 08:24

The government bang on about everyone owning their own home yes? Not because they want us all to reach our goals and have a nice quality of life but because if you have a mortgage and fall on hard times you have to wait MONTHS for help with the payments (and will probably have been repossessed by that point) yet they have to pay housing benefit right away.

Then, when you own you own home and retire, they don't have a sudden housing benefit bill and you have to sell said house to pay care home fees.

It is all about saving them money.

So what's in it for them making the rights of renters fairer?

JaxingJump · 27/02/2017 08:26

It's not landlords and rental property that's the problem. It's workers salaries. People are not earning enough to buy. So you can blame greedy and selfish landlords all you like but you are blaming the wrong people for the problem. Until people are paid a fair wage for their time (and some even in that situation will still not make it on the property ladder, this is how life has always been) the gap between haves and have nots will continue to widen. This is the real problem.

jdoe8 · 27/02/2017 08:28

I disagree with you that owning your own home is a right in itself.

I didn't say that. But someone working in a good job should be able to afford a house. These days in your in the south east only people that are in the top 10% or have lots of help can buy.

I bet that if the shoe were on the other foot, your worthy principles would take a back seat.

No I sold when I bought my next place. I saw the figures on paper and it made sense to keep it on. But I have morals and would of felt like a selfish cunt.

OP posts:
jdoe8 · 27/02/2017 08:30

That has nothing to do with people deciding what to do with their own property which they have acquired with their own money.

Most of it is borrowed money and the banks were bailed out by the tax payers and added fuel to the fire of house prices.

OP posts:
Boulshired · 27/02/2017 08:30

I had five years between moving in with DP and buying a house together. I would advise anyone to rent out their home whilst doing this for security, especially if like me you are a woman. There are many reasons as to why this might happen.

GallivantingWildebeest · 27/02/2017 08:32

YABVVVU. If I had a house and decided to buy another, would that mean you could magically afford to buy mine? No.

And Its very well to say just rent but renters have such poor rights in the UK it's very undesirable.

Ha bloody ha. Tenants have a lot more bloody rights than landlords. When I had to evict tenants from my flat for non-payment of rent, it took me six month and cost me thousands in lost rent. There were no repercussions for them.

Comingupcabbages · 27/02/2017 08:32

Today 08:12 CrimsonKing

I agree with you that renters should have more long term rights. I disagree with you that owning your own home is a right in itself

Life is inherently unfair. There are more important things we need to worry about as a society rather than home ownership. Education, healthcare, social welfare etc.

It's my opinion that secure housing is equally as important as either owning your own home or having a secure tenancy.
Over a third of families with children now rent, renting is transient, means frequent moves and school changes.
This affects health and education, mental wellbeing.

It is to do with tenant rights, despite all the allegedly angelic landlords on mumsnet and the anecdotes about awful tenants (which I know are true in many cases), tenants still are more vulnerable.

Buy to let has affected house prices, a quick Google will link to as many stats as you like for that.

VintagePerfumista · 27/02/2017 08:32

If it's borrowed money, the fact still remains that these people are considered to be solvent enough, and have enough to fall back on to be allowed by the banks to borrow on their capital in the first place.

The minute you start with the "bet it's not even their own earned money neh neh" griping you lose the argument and just come across as bitter and envious I'm afraid. And as I said, I speak as a renter, who I imagine will be a renter till I die.

Sixisthemagicnumber · 27/02/2017 08:33

But if people didn't rent out their houses then there would be an even bigger shortage of properties available to rent. Not everyone wants to buy or is able to buy (and even with a significant price reduction many people wouldn't be able to buy).
For me, the real scandal is those that have bought under right to buy and are now renting out an ex council house for twice the price as the council One next door.

Comingupcabbages · 27/02/2017 08:35

Renters (like me) are blaming the wrong people in this argument. We should be taking it out on successive governments and local authorities for not providing affordable housing stock. Not on the people who have managed to save up enough money to own more than one property

At least 40% of right to buy properties are now in the private rental sector with landlords.

nagsandovalballs · 27/02/2017 08:35

When I bought a house with my dp, I kept my flat. It gives me a small secure income which has helped enormously when I've been between jobs and will help again if I split up with dp. The alternative would be destitution and dependency on the state. My flat is rented to young professionals who lived there for 3 years and are now moving to Sweden for work. They are a Brit in a relationship with a Romanian and as they are very well educated they are rather peripatetic, going where the work is. They don't want to buy. My flat will be taken on by similar as my flat is in an area that attracts graduates in their first or second jobs. It isn't suitable for families as it is upstairs, two bedrooms and no outside space.

Sweeping statements don't account for the many, many individualised situations around the country.

GallivantingWildebeest · 27/02/2017 08:36

the real scandal is those that have bought under right to buy and are now renting out an ex council house for twice the price as the council one next door.

Yes! The govt should never have sold off council houses. That's taking houses away from people who really need them. Also, I think you should only be allowed to keep a council house for a certain time then should have to move on and leave it for somone else.

jdoe8 · 27/02/2017 08:36

Thanks Comingupcabbages :)

OP posts:

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GallivantingWildebeest · 27/02/2017 08:37

But I have morals and would of felt like a selfish cunt.

Would HAVE

Comingupcabbages · 27/02/2017 08:38

I don't believe that the 37% of people with children who rent prefer it that way. It's not credible.

This is from the 2016 national housing survey

The private rented sector has doubled in size since 2002
Since 2002, the private rented sector has almost doubled, from 10% to 19% in 2014-15. By contrast, the social rented sector has nearly halved, from 31% of all households in 1980, to 17% in 2014-15.

The big decrease in social housing is down to right to buy, with few houses sold being replaced. The increase in the private rental sector is also partly attributable to right to buy: a recent select committee report revealed 40% of properties bought through right to buy are now in the private rented sector

Sixisthemagicnumber · 27/02/2017 08:40

What those stats show cabbages is that the private rental market is filling the gap left by the sell off of social housing. Social housing rentals down and private rentals up at the same time.

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