Where will everyone live?

[CrunchyKnot]

I've just been given notice on my rental property.

In the entire COUNTY, only a handful of properties could house us (me, kids and dogs). I was told at a viewing this morning that the agents had 250 applications in a 24-hour period for one house.

I have been in touch with the council and have been told we'd be looking at a minimum of 1 year in a b&b before they could potentially move us into temporary housing.

I'm obviously not the only one in this situation given the sheer volume of applications for one house, what will happen to us all?

Not in that county then

So sorry you have to move - it's shit

Are you a particularly large family or need special adaptions or something?

Do you have savings you could use or a relative you could live with u til you're sorted?

Me and 4 DC. The dogs are probably the biggest issue. No savings and no one in the family that has room for us.

It's concerning isn't it my tenant gave notice yesterday talked to the agents and they said put it on for £200 more, because there's nothing to rent

I wasn't happy with that! But what is going to happen? There are exactly 3 properties to rent in our town of 135,000 people

A lot of landlords are selling up, due to fear of renting reform.

Only 3?! Are the rest holiday lets?

This is the result of terrible decisions by the government, imposed on LL......millions have been selling up as there is so little profit in a very risky business.
If only decisions had been taken on the advice of LL associations things would have been very different.

Of course if you penalise LL endlessly the result will inevitably be a mass exit of the market and so here we are...

The nearest town to me is about 135,000 population too. And there are only 3 houses for rent - all of them 2 beds. There are 18 flats, only one is 3 bed, nothing bigger. If you are a (not even particularly large) family you are going to be struggling. This isn't a very touristy area so not all been made into holiday lets either.

@Rafferty10 couldn't agree more

I just don't understand why no one thought this would happen, there's no safety net of social housing as that is also non-existent so where will we all go?!

Apologies for being uninformed about this. Is anyone kind enough to explain in basic terms what the government have done? I mean what restrictions have they put on LL to make it less attractive? I know there have been lots of changes lately, I just haven’t kept up with the details.

Cinnabomb,

The biggest impact on LL was when the tax rules changed 3 or 4 years ago...
with other businesses, if you have a loan you are able to offset your interest payments before you pay tax..
with BTL you used to do the same, ie offest the interest part of your mortgage loan before you paid tax on your profit...
Over the last few years this has reduced on a sliding scale...to a basic 20% rate relief.

This has made most who have mortgaged investment properties unable to make a profit.

Also now being unable to issue a section 21, means many months trying to evict a problem tenant, whilst paying the mortgage and bills..
(.contrary to popular opinion most LL want to keep their tenants as long as possible and only use Section 21 for those who default, or trash the property, sell drugs etc.)

Lastly the EPC rules, most of the uk has old housing stock, yet LL now have to get their properties up to ever higher EPC standards a whatever cost, making BTL unviable.

The main issue is the disconnect over the role of private LLs, many renters see the LL as providing a public service, whereas the reality is LL are people who need to make a living and therefore needing to make a profit..

They've made it so people can move into your house and not pay a penny more. The council will provide them the means to fight you in court and if you lose (very likely), you pay their costs as well as your own, while being out of pocket for all the rent they owe. Basically you can't evict shitty tenants.

People should have been careful what they wished for.

It's gotten only worse.

Landlords were making a profit despite the reduction in mortgage interest tax relief. Now that interest rates are approaching 7% the financial ratios have changed and making a profit is difficult even if full tax relief was suddenly restored.

Most landlords who are selling are doing so because interest rates have risen and they are investing sideways into bonds or gilts which pay 4% without as much risk or effort. You don’t need to EPC a treasury stock.

Houses are not pulled down when they are sold. They are bought by another landlord to rent out or an owner occupier to live in. If AirBnB is to blame for anything it is because those properties are not let out 52 weeks a year. If they are let out 50% of the time, that’s 2 homes inefficiently operating as 1.

There is no quick fix for the housing market. More adults want to live on their own compared to previous decades so inevitably this is a structural change. So was Brexit and then Covid with less builders in the U.K. at every level. I do not see this changing and it’s doubtful we will see mortgage rates going back to the heady days of sub 2%.

The world has changed now and many central banks see inflation as a way to reduce debt. The UK’s interest payments are approaching £100 billion a year. That is why taxation is higher for everyone, not just landlords. This is money not available for housing or mending potholes. No government has clean hands when it comes to housing or the national debt.