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

I love HE.
But it used to be about a limited number going off and doing degrees.
Now 50% of kids go to uni.
To stand out they have to do more than a degree and that makes life hard.
It's also depriving us of the skills that s thriving country needs.
We need massively more apprenticeships.
We also need to respect the skilled medical people we train.

If the previous governments had aimed for 50% of kids going on to do apprenticeships then our country would be in a better state.

HE has ballooned into a business monster which is ultimately going to eat itself. It's not sustainable and it's not sensible.

Many aspects of the UK economy are broken and it is our children's futures that will be most damaged.

No. Immigrants themselves are not to blame. As individuals they are behaving rationally by coming to the U.K.

Politicians of both major parties are to blame for enacting policies that resulted in 25 years of uncontrolled mass immigration which the British public never wanted and never voted for.

Care homes will do that for you.

Yes that’s a really good idea though many wouldn’t like their parents taking away their inheritance.

@Sharptonguedwoman and a lot of older people are allergic ( and I understand why) to service charges they can’t control - which is why I wouldn’t buy flats over 55 - but would rent them - personally I think we need more good quality flats for over 55s ‘for rent’ on long term secure tenancies - 2 storey low rise blocks with balconies or patios and at sensible money ( think £600 to £1300 a month max) not the £2500 to £4000 a month that companies like Churchill or McCarthy stone think are fine - people who are selling up could bank their funds and let the interest pay a lot if this, people without many assets would be just about the level of local housing allowance in a lot of areas. I would if I was the gvt be hugely incentivising pension and insurance companies to develop these - big tax write offs etc

Land lording is an investment activity, you're putting your money into bricks and mortar instead of buying stocks and shares.
If you borrow money to buy stocks and shares you can't offset the cost of borrowing against the profits from the stocks and shares. That's why it's quite right and proper that landlords don't get tax relief on the interest that they pay.

I think because the job situation in those parts where house prices are cheaper isn’t great.
There is also a crackdown on WFH in the civil service so you still need to be based a reasonable distance from the office.

The whole situation is catch 22.

Perhaps the government should cap private rents based on the size of the property and more in line with social housing rent? Obviously this would be challenging for many landlords as the rent would no longer cover the BTL mortgage, and perhaps they'd have to sell. With more houses on the market and without the capital return on rent, house prices would drop making it more affordable for those wanting to buy. But at the same time less private rentals available... (so not great for those without the means to raise a mortgage).

But then look at it on the other hand. How many people stay living in a city on crappy wages despite the cost of living being extortionate? And yet you can move to other parts of the country, still earn minimum wage, and yet can private rent a 3 bed semi for £750 pcm. Why do people not shun expensive cities and move? I've moved all over the UK and generally liked everywhere I lived.

Do you mean mum should stay at home?

@OriginalUsername2no cap at the moment. Their might be some help available but only if your tenant is on benefits. I've decided I will be selling up if this is still policy in 2028. I know it won't affect sitting tenants until 2030 but if I wait until then the market will be flooded with EPC D houses. It's sad because they are actually nice houses. I never rent out a house I wouldn't be happy to live in myself. The huge irony is my own home is EPC D and we are perfectly happy with it and have no plans to change it.

My local university employs 7,500 staff and is by far the biggest employer in the area. Universities bring a huge boost to local economies.

Oh, I thought it would be our fault, of course it is. 🙄,
Yes, I do get a bit twitched about this. The youngest boomers are 61 yrs old. Many have children still living at home. Many will still be working. Why would they move? Children are often around now until they are 30, so there's a need for space.
Older (oldest boomers are nearing 80) people might like to move to a bungalow-these are both rare away from seaside towns and sometimes expensive. Many have been enlarged by developers and are now large houses. I was talking this morning to my lovely neighbours, early 80s. Considering a flat (one bed) with a well known brand. They said the cost was prohibitive. Things are not always simple.

There are economic implication to uni closing down.

Clearly you don't like HE - frankly I do think there are issues with but to say they don't have a huge contibution to local economies and national is just daft.

In my parent’s day poor families lived in a room and kitchen. They weren’t asking people living in their own big homes to move, why should they?

If someone can afford a large house on their own because they’ve worked and took risks surely that’s their own business? I’m in a four bed alone now my son is off to university. I will move to a three bedroomed property.

Some less affluent people seem to have a massive entitlement that would’ve never occurred to myself. If people can afford to be single parents in large houses they own well that’s their business surely? You can’t come along and say I’ve got umpteen kids and can’t afford a house so people who’ve made sacrifices have to take the hit.

Theres a massive shift in mentality that there wasn’t years ago. Actually in my generation poor people lived in council homes. They didn’t get access to private let’s. They didn’t get brand new homes in nice areas through housing associations. In 2007 a large family on benefits moved near me they were a nightmare very anti social although they were oblivious to their behaviour. I was delighted when Cameron brought in benefit caps for rent on benefits. No one like that moved in again.

The Labour government are planning large social housing areas. So basically like the estates of the 1980s. Labour aren’t great for social mobility although many of their leaders benefitted from Grammars schools but got rid of them. You won’t be getting grammar schools on these new estates that’s for sure.

I would say it is a mixture of things, largely led by landlords taking advantage of increased demand. And that demand is caused by people in their 30s still not able to afford to buy somewhere.

Isn’t there a rule where you get an exemption if you spent £3,500 per property?

(Not disputing any of your points btw, that’s still a lot of money to find.)

@CatHairEveryWhereNow

And what about the impact on graduates of long term government debt?
What about the jobs economy to help these graduates find suitable employment?
What about the devastation to areas with high levels of student accommodation who lose their sense of commuity, facilities?
How many local people are employed in universities? EG: M13 is adjacent to Manchester university yet a very low % of people were employed. If the % is higher now it will be because of the social cleansing that goes on with gentrification.

Students spend money in particular ways. They tend not to have school age children which unbalances communities and often leads to school number problems.
There are huge social issues living in an area with a high student population. Financial issues like home and car insurance costs were traditionally much higher in student areas.

I'll go and read the links later - but I suspect none give a net benefit figure for student areas.

With regards to my friends (we’re mid 30s), a lot of them have hefty deposits from parents but still moan about house prices. Whenever I bring up rightmove and show them the 50+ properties in their price range loosely in the area they want, they’re never good enough. What they mean is they want some kind of Insta show home in an exclusive area, with high spec everything, and anything else is deemed squalid (even if it’s just slightly out of date).

I remember one colleague regularly posting on social media about his struggle to buy a house, he’s an ‘Antifa’ type who is very TWAW and thinks Corbyn is our rightful leader - lots of posts about why billionaires are to blame for his housing woes, how the wealthy are terrible people and so on. Eventually he buys a house.. in the most affluent, posh, gentrified part of our city. The house must’ve cost a fortune. I find it so hypocritical that he spent ages waxing lyrical about being skint and how awful the upper middle classes are, yet when it came to his own home, only the posh expensive area would do.

https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/features/impact-universities-numbers-2023/how-do-universities-grow-economy

^^ This is a clearly bias sorce but does give facts and figures.

https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/higher-education-contribution-to-the-economy-and-levelling-up/

https://myresearchconnect.com/universities-uk-report-reveals-265-billion-economic-contribution-of-uk-higher-education-and-research-activities/
The headline £265 billion figure includes the impact of:

• Research and knowledge exchange: £63 billion (£54 billion for research, which includes £40 billion from improved private sector productivity and £14 billion from the impact of higher education sector spending on research, and £9 billion for knowledge exchange).
• Impact of teaching and learning: £95 billion.
• Impact of educational exports: £37 billion.
• Impact of higher education provider (university) expenditure: £70 billion.

https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/09/13/why-a-decline-in-the-uks-university-sector-is-a-threat-to-gdp

This is crucial for regions like the North East and Wales that rely more heavily on the relatively high-wage, high-productivity university jobs and their economic multiplier effects. That includes international students' spending, as well as spending by university and supply chain employees.
A decline in the university sector could severely affect employment and local services in these regions, and increase regional inequality in the country, warned the report.
“In a university-reliant local authority economy, a university going bankrupt would have a substantial negative impact that would reverberate through the whole area. It is therefore difficult to overstate the value of universities to the UK's economic model, both at the national and the local levels.”

Very true. Government clearly don't want any btl LL to exist yet. The best way to eradicate them is to build and provide enough social housing, but they don't/won't do that. Driving btl LL out without replacing housing stock means far more homeless families languishing in the temporary accommodation for years.

Do you live with family etc? Your parents, adult children, an elderly aunt?

Edit: I re read and can see you mean single parents more than extended family. I do see what you mean. Our ‘needs’ as people are vast compared to even 30 or 40 years ago and we demand so much while giving so little.

I agree with @Hoardasurass, i.e., it started with Thatcher and was exacerbated by the failure of subsequent governments to properly manage the housing market.

So many people are willing to blame immigrants and jump to the conclusion that if it’s not their fault then it’s because of older generations.

Maybe think about the massive increase in housing needed because of our ‘British Values’ than mean we have so many families live separately nowadays. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but people now have the freedoms to have children with people they don’t live with, or to raise children across two properties because Mum and Dad separated and now a single family needs two homes instead of one.

No one is ever prepared to look inwards and see what choices they have made that contribute in a tiny way to the housing crisis they are complaining about.

No it was awful. Job losses too.

Which is why the Treasury is looking to replace it.
https://www.ukonward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Onward-A-Fairer-Property-Tax.pdf