3 houses in 3 years

[OneCoralCat]

Just a moan really 😫

My landlord called today to say he was going to be putting the house on the market.

We have been served section 21 notices in May 22, May 24 and now August of 25. Never done anything wrong just landlords all wanting to sell. It’s utterly exhausting and I’ll be so sad to leave this house, I really love it here.

As a single parent to 3, with a dog, it’s almost impossible to find somewhere to take us on each time. It has been the most stressful 3 years and I really thought we were going to be here for a good while. I know things change but I specifically asked this landlord if he was planning on it being a long term let 😭

I wish more than anything we could have a home of our own where we didn’t have to move again 😔

You need a life tenancy in a council home. Good luck

I would chop my left arm off for one 😭

Massive hugs as this must have been a shock. Can you see if the landlord could sell with you as a tenant?? And new owner is a landlord

You have every right to moan about this. It isn't right, it isn't fair and it's a stain on our nation that people are having to go through this on a regular basis. I am sorry, and I wish you all the very best.

I sold my flat with a 'sitting tennant' to a landlord, see if he can advertise as investment property with you as sitting tennant. Good Luck

I’m so sorry. It’s tough being a landlord now. I had a flat I rented out and had a wonderful tenant but unfortunately I had to sell the flat. Thankfully she was able to find somewhere and I gave her all the time she needed but with all the legislation it jiust wasn’t viable to keep it. I’m glad there is stronger laws to protect tenants but it’s also meaning less private lets around. I hope you get something soon

The government have hammered private landlords so the scrupulous ones are selling up.
Good luck.

This is the result of demonising private landlords. Hope you find something soon.

I think the main issue is actually that so many are hugely over-leveraged, so with interest rates going up they can no longer afford to pay the mortgage plus their costs.

My friend has a property rental business. The government is changing lots of things and landlords are not being safeguarded against rouge tenants. Don’t get me wrong there’s a lot of good things in the new renters right bill but….

also the energy performance certificates needed for rentals is vastly changing during the next five years. there going to be lots of properties that don’t make the required grade and the government expects landlords to spend £15,000 a property to bring up to their spec. When a lot of these studio flats only bring currently less than £1000 a month it just doesn’t make financial sense. Lots of properties are going to be dumped especially older buildings. The government is bringing in vast fines to ensure LL’s do what they want. LL’s cant see financial sense in spending vast amounts for no return. lots of good LL’s are selling up.

A lot of rentals are accidental LL’s, where a single person meets another, they move in together but the mover in rents out their property to safeguard a roof over their head should the relationship fail. The relationship goes well, they marry etc, but there becomes a time when the rental is a pain in the bum and this stuff just add to the stress of it all. That’s why my DSis is ditching her rental.

I really feel for you.
We had to rent once for a year and I was in a permanent state of anxiety - I had never lived in rental accommodation before and I simply don’t know how people manage with the uncertainty of private rentals.
l realise many people on here will disagree with me but with the current government saying there will be no illegal immigrants in hotels by 2029 the situation is only going to get worse as they will be re housed over British people on the housing lists.
With the changes being forced on landlords too we can see from previous comments that many good landlords will simply sell up.
I would like to say there will be a correction in the market price of houses but because we have too many people and not enough homes, I don’t think that’s true and as -unsustainable as it is,- prices will stay as they are or creep up and up……..
@OneCoralCat - could you relocate somewhere where you could afford a little house of your own? I know it’s hard leaving the area you know and people but if it gave your family the security you crave and utterly deserve could it be an option? I really hope you get a long term home soon. Genuinely, my heart breaks for you.

I am so sorry to hear this, it all sounds very stressful and traumatic for you and your children. I wish that you or a close family member win the Euromillions and you can afford the home you would like to buy.

Take the paper work to Shelter or email them. Lots of landlords don’t do section 21s properly and rely on tenants panicking. Even if they have you don’t have to leave on the day they’ve said you can leave it to the last moment and request a court hearing especially if any of the numerous landlord requirements aren’t met gas safety certificate, energy certificate etc etc.

don’t fall for the woe is us stuff on here imfrom landlords, they want their cake and to eat it it I.e people to recognise what a hard “job” it is while also not having to pay proper tax or providing a decent service.

Not really. I am currently renting my flat out (moved to be closer to family for a period of time) and I've come across all sorts of problems. Firstly the fact I have a mortgage but the government taxes me on the full amount, rather than the (modest) profit I make above the mortgage cost.

In fact given the tax bill and other associated costs I just about break even. This isn't an over leveraging problem.

Its the government going after smaller responsible private landlords with one property, rather than the slum landlords with huge portfolios.

I am also considering whether to sell my property. And tbh I feel for private tenants too, nobody wants this, it's a bloody nightmare.

I’m not sure about the last two, as I was renting through an agency but I deal directly with this landlord and he’s been lovely to be fair.

He said his mortgage is due for renewal at the end of the year and the cost will be considerably more and he’d have to raise the rent so much it wouldn’t be fair.

So there’s definitely a lot of truth in what you’re saying in my situation at least.

I get that it’s easy to be angry with landlords, but I agree with PP that it’s the small landlords who are law abiding that this hits. We became accidental landlords when we married but over the last few years it’s turned from being unprofitable but a good long term investment into costing us about £3000 a year. When moving in the tenant said that she was fed up of moving and wanted somewhere long term. She’s a great tenant. A whole other debate but the cost isn’t offset with an increase in property value. For the moment we keep it with our children in mind but frankly I compare the payoff with having the money sitting in an ISA rather costing us and without all the admin. current policy is bad for everyone involved apart from bad landlords.

I’m sorry you’re in this situation OP.

I’m sorry but you don’t know what you are talking about! As a landlord with one property I pay normal levels of tax, no tax breaks. As another poster said the government won’t even allow us to detract the cost of the mortage from taxing.

Sorry to hear this. Could you buy it? Or see if the tenant could sell with you as the sitting tenant. Another option look at shared ownership in your area. I was lucky and got a 3 bedroom council house,it is like gold dust.

His first sentence was “I don’t suppose you’re in a position to buy it are you”

Sadly not, if I could get a mortgage I’d absolutely be doing that rather than paying someone else’s 😭 It’s a vicious cycle, I pay so much rent, I could never save a deposit.

Sorry to hear this and it's a very vicious cycle. I managed to get a 2 bedroom apartment from the housing association as my landlord was selling, then I managed to get a mutual exchange to a 3 bed house. I was very fortunate. The government don't care about families it seems. All my friends only purchased a house due to the bank of mummy and daddy. Life is hard when you come from nothing. People say money doesn't buy happiness, yes it does! Money buys stability to live. I would try to contact some housing associations to see if there is anything available and look at claiming universal credit.

I just want to say that I completely understand what you’re going through. We did three houses in three years - just me, my daughter and our dog - and it was one of the most emotionally draining experiences of my life.

We were lucky enough to get a housing association property, and without having to worry about moving all the time or exorbitant rent rises, I’ve now managed to save up a deposit and being approved for a mortgage.

Oh that's really lovely to hear (the mortgage not the 3 houses!)

I am going to aim for a deposit for a shared ownership I think, maybe will take 2 years or so. Just figuring out what to do in the meantime.

My local council is just diabolical when it comes to homelessness, the last time I was days away from bailiffs coming and all they'd said was "we can offer you a B&B 58 miles from home", I know there's a shortage of homes but just the lack of empathy is gut wrenching. I work hard, pay my own way and am made to feel entirely useless because I'm not in a position to buy my own home. It's pretty demoralising isn't it!

👆🏻 this, with bells on! Add in Section 24 for landlords too.

This bill is not a magic bullet either, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, rents will increase as the private rented sector shrinks. So those that can stay the course will possibly still be make it profitable.

Labour won’t listen though, the bill is not wholly a bad thing, but it has been rushed, has some very ill thought out policy and they won’t listen to experts in the industry as to how it could be amended to work better for all concerned.

Makes me laugh too, as you’ll have even less protection if a landlord wants to sell than you do now! But it’ll help tenants who are rogue tenants to remain in their properties for longer so that the local councils don’t have to take them until really pushed.

Once again government smoke and mirrors to get people to jump all over private landlords rather than actually critically understand the PRS and governments failures.

This really isn't anything to do with my situation though. The renters reform bill hasn't been passed and has been being mooted for years (it definitely hasn't been rushed, far from it!) The rise in interest rates and the ending of his fixed term is the cause (this time).

One could ponder whether renting out a property you can't cover the mortgage on is entirely sensible/ethical...but I guess that's a different story.

Ahhh, I do love these sweeping judgements. LLs pay tax, you do know they are closely tracked by HMRC don’t you?

The OP can leave it until a court order is in place for possession, however, these leaves her in the last chance saloon time wise and will put immense pressure on her.

There are many good landlords who do everything they should and more. There are rogue landlords and the failure in dealing with them is due to government lack of investment in enforcement of the laws they already have. There are many many many great tenants who genuinely look after their homes and just want long term stability as they cannot afford to buy and there are not enough council houses to go around.

Given government don’t have council homes and given you don’t want private landlords to exist which has indeed now pushed LLs to leave the sector as you wished, where do you anticipate the people like OP who are caught in the middle of this go?