"Have you thought about buying?"...

[NickyEds]

As in a house. We're currently (and increasingly desperately) looking for a new house to rent. In our area stuff comes up, is viewed and goes within a day. We're on all the usual websites every day looking for somewhere suitable. The last house we viewed and applied for, 14 other people also applied for and we didn't get it.
If one more person says "If you're having trouble renting, have you thought of buying??"...GGrrrrr. Yes we have thought about it. We don't have thousands of pounds sat about. It's not an option. The question is usually followed by "Can't your parents help you out?". . Maybe they think that the thought has actually never occurred to us and they're genuinely being helpful but AIBU to scream in the face of the next person who says this?

I think that'll be my plan - clearly prices are never again going to be 3 times my salary for a house that would be suitable for me and the kids so at some point in the nearish future I'll buy something that'll do for little old me - probably not in the uk and load the difference into my pension. Those worried about not leaving anything to children I honestly think life insurance for a tenner a month is more useful to them anyway, cash is flexible and there's no estate agents fees, solicitors, people taking advantage of them wanting to sell quickly etc

We couldn't afford mortgage repayments and rent at the same time!

We will be able to buy one day. We are lucky enough to both have parents who own their properties. So... for people we love have to due and then we will be able to buy. A morbid thought but actually it does mean we will be able to buy one day and have something to leave to our children. But we'll probably be in or 50s by the time we buy something.

My father died just after he exhausted his life savings on at home dementia care though and what isn't left about 40% tends to go in inheritance tax to the state, bless its little heart... to spend on foreign wars and wasted foreign aid and over paid state officials.

The idea is that you buy a place and let it out and the rent covers the costs so it does not actually cost you anything. that's how my first child bought and now has moved in 2 years on as her pay went up and she could afford a normal residential mortgage. (No children yet though so no childcare costs).

I think there needs to be control over BTL.

What winds me up is there are so many landlords with well paid professional jobs snapping up properties & raking in even more money that they don't necesarily need.

If there were a law whereby anyone could only own a set number of properties in addition to the one they live in, or landlords were only allowed to make a certain amount of income before having to choose to either retain their job or become a full time landlord, it would free up a huge number of properties, reducing demand & lowering prices.

Will never happen as too many people in power probably benefit from the status quo.

Most landlords in England own their own home plus one property actually so I doubt that would make much of a difference and everytime we've let out and when my daughter did we raked nothing in and made in rent only what the mortgage cost!! So there seems to be a huge difference between what tenants think and landlords actually made. We also sold two buy to let flats for 50% less than we paid for them in the 1990s property crash too although I accept few people get timing as wrong as I do.

If the person I suggested above buys the 2 bed for their retirement and carries on renting they are landlord. I don't think we really want to stop that. Also if a mumsnetter has to move from Leeds to Newcastle and keeps the leeds house and just rents in Newcastle she is a landlord.

We could certainly restrict the numbers of properties people can own but people with 10 members of their family could simply put it in family names or use a limited company or friend. Most pension funds will not invest in buy to let in the UK as it makes so little profit particularly in London as property prices are so high that letting yields are less than elsewhere although you hope for capital gains. Mind you where I live in outer London prices have dropped 1.6% in the last 6 months alone. It is not a one way bet and in fact women tend to make most in life where they are prepared to take on some risk.

I can totally sympathise OP. We live in a HA property (lucky in some ways I know) but we have absolutely AWFUL neighbours and feel trapped, we're desperate to get out but have no option but to stay. All we get is, why don't you buy somewhere? With what?! I'm a full time carer to my son, OH is a nurse so his pay just about covers bills and for us to have some sort of minimal life outside of the day to day stuff, no family support, never mind family offering handouts! We can't even afford to privately rent as the agents fees for that are extortionate now, and that's before throwing in one months rent and deposit up front! We don't all have thousands of pounds stashed away for a rainy day!