To think rent increases “because of inflation” are immoral when many landlords own outright?

Yes, and that's on top of the increase of over a million in the last 2 years!

As far as rents go, the only way is up!

That’s a population increase equivalent to London, Manchester and Leeds in 25 years. And that’s the stat being used to reassure people that we don’t have to worry about housing?

Yes, those are the official figures. My point was that the numbers of people living in the UK may be much higher than the official figures. Information coming out of food purchased, sewage produced, pressure on reservoirs etc suggest that the actual figures are higher.

Either way, even the official stats will result in higher rents as the population grows.

Spot on, WhereIsItPlease

I don't dispute that the housing market's been allowed to descend into a mess, but there's an inclination to seek out a bogeyman to blame - in this case landlords - without any consideration of the wider picture

It's becoming pretty obvious that, with private landlords being driven out of the market, the situation's getting worse rather than better, so it's hard not to wonder whose fault it'll be next

You are presuming the landlord chose to do this and it wasn't mandated by the building leasehold.

A solid group of people believe landlords should be out of pocket for maintenance costs on the basis that they will have a capital gains in the future. And this is probably true for corporations with access to finance and loans but not true doe private landlords who use the rent to pay the mortgage and maintenance. The idea that people should be ok with running a negative balance sheet for years is detached from the reality of being a landlord - where, for example, you have to submit tax returns and proof of rent to show it's a profitable venture. Or do you expect banks to loan on money pits?

People don't seem to expect to pay for anything in this country - everyone seems to want someone else to subsidise their living. Expecting your
landlord to subsidise your housing costs because you "think" the rent is too high for the costs you imagine they have is about you. Just buy your own place.

So you’d become an immoral landlord risking going to hell?

Landlord costs have gone up significantly more than inflation in recent years for those of us with mortgages. There is also huge risks involved now especially for us in Scotland because its so difficult to evict non paying tenants. In my experience and opinion, the best landlords tend to be the so called accidental landlords, owning usually one but at most a small number or properties. I care about my flat, I want tenants who will look after it etc etc. But its us who are hit the hardest with the cost increases and the risks. Its very difficult.

I also said rent. Complaining gets them nowhere. Take control of their own future

I'm not against letting properties, I am agreeing with the OP as well you know!

Rent goes up as the cost of maintaining the building goes up in line with inflation. Maintaining the boiler, repairing plumbing, general maintenance. The buildings don’t look after themselves. Plus it may be somebody’s only source of income.

Well if they are maxing out their exploitation of people in dire straits, then yes perhaps they should give some thought to their moral compass but that is something between an individual and their conscience to decide.

£280,000 property for sale £30,000 deposit (if you have saved hard) mortgage over 25 years = £1400 month. My renters pay £1000 for a brand new home I receive less 10% letting fee all maintenance gas safe insurance accountant etc - I’m not going to hell I don’t think!

Would you rent out your property if you had to work abroad for a year ?

I own a property so I'm unsure why you are patronising me. It is a desire not a demand to see a soul restored to communities and for their to be some equity in this world.

I mean what is stopping people then, why haven't theye gone ahead and bought a property.

It’s the right to own property which includes renting out. Believe it or not, some people do not respect other peoples property.

Yes I’m sure someone who rents out a flat worries about going to hell. No wonder some people struggle with attitudes like this,

Look on any property search site and find multiple for sale and for rent properties?

All I’m reading are demands for other people’s property and how everything is other people’s fault. It’s that sort of world view that causes people’s problems. It’s fixable, but will take some individual effort and responsibility,

Yes, to shelter, I don't think that right is supposed to be interpreted as the right of a Landlord to own six or seven properties or the right of some parasitic investment company to throw their millions into a pile on a remote island! I mean how many shelters does one man need! Don't these people worry about the Pearly gates!

Quite obviously because of the lack of supply of housing.

The result of the current status quo is a mess of affordability and immiseration of a majority of Renters. What I want to know is when the 'Labour' party are going to stop caving into the rich like a giant sink hole full of shit!

All true, but that still doesn't address the point that was originally brought up and to which I was replying, it's going on tangents. That a £10k bill for painting windows left the poster with no money even after rent had been paid. Painting windows isn't the tenants responsibility though is it? As the flat owner, it's theirs, it is building maintenance.

There are good and bad landlords.

If a tenant is ao vehemently against their landlord what is stopping them moving to another rental or purchasing a property (low deposit required and long term mortgages available).

Staying put and complaining is not going to improve their lot.

I know how inflation figures work.......

Why does 2% extra on tax lead to a 8 to 10% on rents? the renters rights bill doesn't, as yet, mean more rent increases?

Mortgage rates have also fallen substantially too, will LLs who hiked rents, drop rents......

For LLs without a mortgage, its money for nothing, with little to no risk, a 4 to 8% return is easy to make, the asset will increase in value, CGT is still below earned income rates.

With no mortgage - Costs are a 5 yearly Eicr (£250) a gas safe cert (£150) building insurance, possibly a 10% letting fee, thats it - repairs etc are an investment in your property and major ones are tax deductible.

Oil prices? there are no new taxes on fuel but what has happened is the trebling of forecourt profit margins....

It should be fairly obvious that if the people with the most money in society are allowed to own multiple houses that drives up the price of the remaining houses, making them unaffordable to an ever increasing section of society.

To a large extent the effect of this is being masked by the mortgage market which still just about allows people to afford to buy, as long as they don’t mind being in debt to a mortgage lender for most of their life (with the effect that they end up paying far, far more for the house once you add on the interest payments over the life of that mortgage).

We are now looking at ever longer mortgages, and the possibility of mortgages stretching beyond a single lifetime and being passed on to the next generation, all to keep this ever decreasing number of people just about able to afford the dream of owning their own home.

Eventually a large swathe of our society will only ever be renters, as the housing stock will be owned by a very small number of very wealthy people.

You can either say “ok, I just need to make sure me and my kids are amongst the super wealthy” , or you can accept that the current system is broken, it is damaging to our society and we need to think of ways of fixing it.