to ask how we can sort out housing?

[Hullygully]

So. First time buyers largely priced out. Rents going up. No new building. HB cap. Little security of tenure for private renters. Landlords being stuffed.

When Right-to-Buy was introduced, both as cynical gerrymandering and vote gathering, and because the govt wanted rid of the responsibility for social housing, there was an encouraged explosion in Buy-to-Let to take up the slack.

Now we have a large number of landlords with a few properties operating on narrow margins who have little protection against rogue tenants (particularly those on HB who are told by their councils to wait it out until eviction) and who are able to pocket the first 8 weeks of rent before any action can be taken, and who are therefore understandably reluctant to take on HB tenants, plus, with the introduction of the Cap, HB tenants will be able to pay less than the market rent in large areas of the country.

Then renters have little security, they can be given two months' notice after six months, a nightmare particularly for families settled at schools etc. And of course there are some nightmare landlords around who don't carry out repairs etc.

Suggestions?
Solutions?

Altho, Squeaky, a lot of people that are on them don't like them at all.

yy, dreaming, they definitely need including.

Ah you're right Hully

I'm way too naive for my own good sometimes

Increase inheritance tax and tighten all the loopholes. otherwise you have a split off between families who inherit large sums of money and those who dont.

I think in countries on continent where buying is much rarer - renters have longer leases and more legal protection. Perhaps copying what ever system they have? Not sure how their landlords feel about their systems.

We had to buy as we had school aged children. It going to make it so much harder to move if DH job is made permanent - currently he is working away all week.

Increase stamp duty on houses the buyer wont be living in. (2nd homes and BTL)

Here's my situation

We are about to be given notice on our current rented property. Rents around here are currently £250-£300 more than what we are paying in rent at the moment. We don't have that money.

We have applied to the local council and assoc. for housing but don't like our chances. God knows where we are going to end up.

A lot of people buying dont like paying mortgages, and a lot of people renting dont like having to rent....

Shared ownership makes buying your property a possibility, and is particularly good for single people whose income normally means they are unable to get a mortgage based on their salary, even though they can afford to pay the mortgage. That is where a lot of the problem lies.

For example, I have a friend who is on a good salary... approx 40k. She can easily afford to pay a mortgage on a small property, but we live in London and and she cannot get a mortgage to enable her to buy the property, even though the monthly payments would not be a problem. I expect this problem is now more widespread across the country too.

She has gone with shared ownership now, rather than keep paying dead money for rent, and is much happier.

Increase inheritance tax and tighten all the loopholes

How does that help anyone?

Triple -- yes the tenant protection here in France is really good. I think they have to give you 3 months notice to leave, and they can really only ask you to leave if they are selling, and then you have first dibs on buying after the owner's immediate family. there are more restrictions on raising the rent. Tenancies are generally much longer term, people may rent their whole lives. They can't evict families in the winter months. You can generally do whatever you want in terms of decor and such.

Overall you just feel a lot more secure, and like you are living in your own home.

I know people say you can't have more tenant protection in the UK because people wil stop being landlords. But there is great tenant protection in France, Germany, etc. and people are still landlords and there is a large rental sector.

Cynical answer: Just wait for house prices to crash when interest rates rise

Building retirement villages that genuinely suit the needs of older people, maybe in the style of the McCarthy and Stone places, make them a mix of private and council/HA and give a lump sum to older singles and couples who leave 3 or 4 bed council/HA houses to go into them.

This is only an island, you can only build so many houses. Increase taxation on 2nd properties and buy-to-let properties and any income you get from those, to encourage landlords to sell their houses? Apart from that, I really don't have any suggestions.

I don't think UK needs longer tenancies, I believe UK is a nation of homeowners. When you rent, the property will never be yours.You are putting money into someone else's pocket.

Higher council tax for people who under occupy houses.

2 people in a 4 bedroom house should pay more council tax than 4 people in a 4 bedroom house.

• End inheritance of council properties
• Have reassessment of need on a regular basis. Sorry, but single old people living in 4 bed houses when there are families in B&B is just not right.

the second coming the problem with that is that it would be far cheaper to build the house than buy it at current mortgaged value, assuming only those in neg equity or close to it would be interested.

Council housing is outdated anyway, it's all about housing associations these days

I think longer leases should be introduced for private rentals, much the same way as commercial property is rented. There are plenty of people who need short term lets and the current AST is fine for them (and fine for the LLs who don't want to commit to keeping the property long term) but there needs to be a provision for the 1000s of people who need to rent long term. The lack of security for tenants is ridiculous, as it the attitude towards decorating etc that leaves people unable to hang a picture or a curtain rail in their own homes.

The problem is that high housing costs really fuck over the economy because they result in a really high living wage, which makes UK uncompetitive vs other economies, just when we can't afford for that to be the case as more and more jobs are exportable. What will happen eventually is that the UK economy will shrink, and house prices will fall, but that's a very painful solution.

I also think immmigration plays its part in the mess that we are in.

It is wrong that people are moving here from all over europe without any restrictions, while we are struggling to house the people who were born and raised here.

No doubt I will be flamed for saying this, but it is certainly a factor that has created problems in the area where we live.

squeakytoyWed 16-Nov-11 09:43:15

Increase inheritance tax and tighten all the loopholes

How does that help anyone?

Levels society. The alternative is to have groups of people for whom buying a house is easy.

squeaky I think it's a fair point. The UK is hugely densely populated now, and we've all been sold the line that we need loads of people to pay the pensions of the old people, but actually, now we know that's bollocks and the welfare state is just one giant ponzi scheme.

Squeaky toy, I think that is down to the way immigration is managed, rather than the level of immigration. It is poorly planned so that immigrants end up living in areas that have infrastructure that is already stretched.