To think rents are going up because of insane levels of demand and not billionaires buying all the houses?

Bungalows have always been relatively expensive in terms of the habitable square footage that you get.
People may want in theory to downsize & release equity, but the reality of going from a house to a flat involves a loss of status and they often turn their noses up at the idea.

Thinking of my PILs, they would love to move to a 2 bed bungalow. They are living ok on their pension but would love to free up some money. They are mid 70s. Bungalows in the village and surrounding areas are so expensive, more than their own 3 bed detached house! Its seemingly impossible for them to do this. They dont want to do equity release. They also dont want to live on a retirement complex. They enjoy living in the village and have friends here. Idk what the answer is

Yet it's been on the market for months! Perfect first property for someone.

If it was bought by an investor and put on the rental market it would have been occupied (with a waiting list). No one around here wants to be a landlord

We have unsuitable housing which makes it unaffordable.

Why the fuck we are throwing up new estates full of 4 bed houses without suitable infrastructure e.g. doctor and dental services is beyond me.

We have empty, city centre buildings which are ideal for ikea-style first homes for young people who would be happy with less space for less money and could them walk to work and spend on the high street. Suitable, affordable housing.

People end up trapped in small 2 beds on mew estates because those properties used to offer Help to Buy but then they can't afford to move up. Even when they can, they are often settled in the area and tied to the estates because their kids have friends and they are stuck because people are sitting tight in the limited 3 beds because it costs a fortune to move. The 4 beds come up more often but it's a huge jump from 2 to 4 bed and the 3 beds don't want to pay moving costs for a bit more space.

Rents are rising because house prices are rising and landlords are in it to make money, they aren't a charity.

The UK house rental markets is like on big game of musical chairs. There is such a shortage of flats in the city where I live that every new letting coming on to the market attracts a stampede of interested parties. I found out from a 20-something friend that his rent for a 2 bed flat in a fairly dingy part of town is more than the mortgage of my 4 bed Victoria villa in one of the most sought after areas. The young people of today have such a rough deal. I don’t think the government want to tackle the lack of housing as in doing so they make rent and house prices fall making the ‘wealthy’ homeowners feel less rich.

Such scaremongering rubbish, the Tories alongside their 14 years of austerity were an obstruction to the supply of homes, it is the supply of homes that is the main reason for the housing crisis;

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/conservatives-one-million-homes-housebuilding-election-promise-data-housing-labour-b1196975.html

In addition, Brexit has lasting damage to this day with the costs of raw materials and supply of Labour.

Landlord here. I pay tax on the income. Once you take into account repairs, ground rent etc the income is very small. I have also refused to increase the rent since having the flat. It’s very hard to make a profit on BTL unless you own outright

Why is there demand?

Because successive Governments have introduced policies that make being a casual landlord impossible.

The result is less rentals, more competition and higher costs.

In Cardiff circa 2005, you could rent a two bed maisonette, withing spitting distance of the City Centre, for less than £500pm. Or you could pay over a grand for a flat "down the bay". You could, I shit you not, pay £200 quid a month for a converted garden shed down the back end of Pontcanna. But the Governments didn't like this, too easy to make a bit of tax free income. So they banned it. And the new Renters Rights Bill will kill the market completely.

From now on, the only players in the rental game will be big corporate landlords. Lloyds Bank has bought up over FIFTY THOUSAND residential properties in the UK over the past three years!

But "Doing Well Dave" who wants to buy his fifth terrace to rent out on the cheap to local students is suddenly the scum of the earth.

I have ZERO sympathy for renters who are now complaining about cost. You had years to fight your corner and support the small local landlord. You didn't. You just wanted more and more, and supported the Government in hounding them out od the market. Well now you have nothing. Well done!

Yep I wonder if the pp rents

That’s true too. I know someone who lives in a new build and omg the heat inside in summer. Feels like being boiled alive and opening the (tiny) windows brings little relief.

I don't think I would want a house or flat that is a boiling hot hellhole in the summer that many of these higher EPC smaller homes seem to be.

And millions of people who own their homes live in properties with lower EPCs and it’s absolutely fine. This pp is making out that it’s the same as living in an unheated damp squat with black mould. It’s really expensive to bring older properties in line with the C rating and the savings are minimal. My house is D and upgrading to C would save maybe a tenner a month.

We need more cheaper smaller housing, older people downsizing isn't going to solve this, who is going to afford these large houses they are downsizing from or if they are in a bad state of repair afford to do them up. These older downsizing people will be taking the ftb houses, usually as cash buyers.

You’re being totally unrealistic though. This would just remove lots more properties from the rental market and exacerbate the issue. You may not like paying to hear a draughty house but when the rent jumps £500 a month instead are you better off?

It’s also the changing rules on BTL which mean it’s not an attractive investment anymore. So landlords are either selling up or increasing rent to cover increased costs.

I became an accidental BTL landlord after I emigrated and have had to increase rent this year because I didn’t even break even in my first year as a landlord. I don’t want to make a profit but I don’t want to make a loss either, especially as my property hasn’t been increasing in value in recent years (it’s a flat in London).

As I stated earlier I'm not old enough to be part of the boomer generation however it's only about 5 years, I'm not the only person to have a child later in life, there will be people of the boomer generation who still have children at school and entitled to child allowance for them. Nevermind childcare for grandchildren some of the boomer generation are young enough to be still raising their own children. And that's just the mothers, the father's could be older still, not all of the boomer generation are in a position to downsize for one reason or another.

The term "boomer" is used as an insult by critics who blame this generation for being the worst and accuse them of ruining the country. They're perceived as wealthy individuals contributing to societal problems. Yet, ironically, those same critics look forward to inheriting or buying their properties once they pass away. On Mumsnet, I frequently notice people openly expressing pride in being ageist while simultaneously wishing for the deaths of boomers for selfish reasons. And let’s not forget the circle of life here—one day Gen Z and whatever comes after them will roll their eyes at millennials, blaming them for avocado toast-induced inflation or whatever else they can dream up. Enjoy your moment in the sun while it lasts.

A mortgage would be cheaper than renting at that price. It comes out as £421 a month as opposed to £597 for a 2 bed in Port Talbot to £1010 in Cardiff.

Very true!

That's less than two years of recent net immigration housing needs.

Since the year 2000 the UK population has increased by 10 million - roughly equivalent to a "new" London (pop 8.9 million) or four Manchesters (pop 2.8 million).

However the number of new houses, flats etc built in the same period was only 1 million.
The average number of people per household is 2.35.

So basically it is simply supply and demand. To fix it build another 3.2 million houses now and stop the population increasing.

A lot of smaller landlords gave up as the risks and costs were too high - more and more regulations, harder and very costly to evict a bad tenant. Less properties available now. Unintended consequences of government meddling with the housing market...

There are over 50 properties on the market in my small town, starting from £80K. Nothing to rent though for 20 miles.

This is a direct result of the actions of the Welsh Govt and is what will happen shortly in England. The odds are so stacked against small landlords that no one wants to be one. My own home doesn't meet the EPC requirements for letting now and it's very typical of the area. I couldn't rent it out even if I wanted to

34% of 18 year olds in 2024 went into Higher Education. Remember when it was only 10% in the 1960s Nurses and teachers didn’t need degrees. Look at all those polytechnics they became universities and now all those access courses into universities, so the school as not getting them through their A levels. If you consider 34% going to university and take off private schools an even smaller amount from state schools go.

Also I am enjoying the press slagging off higher education all the time with people telling you become a plumber. As someone who’s had a trade myself and made a decent amount as you get older you do wind down and can’t work the way you did in your 20s.

Having a trade suits lots of people but so does higher education. A great deal of young people are not fit for work I had apprentices in the past. Most don’t have the work ethic to make good money. So it’s fine if you’ve good an excellent work ethic and you can make money then. In the classes which don’t value education they also lack delayed gratification which is also a barrier to learning.

The world moved on - we need more people with higher education than in past - though not sure it should be as high as it is.

I do think vocation trianing is completely wrong but uni are currently huge employers in some cities - TBH they'll probaly have to slowly contract as it is as fewer 18 year olds in population - but there different to manafactoruing a crash.

Given the huge amount of student housing blocks built in many uni towns in recent years I'm frankly surprised they are being blamed in any way for housing shortages in the UK by anyone.