to be annoyed about investment properties when so many people have no home?

[horlickslover]

So many established people beginning to "invest" in property again these days. Buying up ideal family homes and first time buyer homes to rent out or use incresingly (depending on area) for airbnb lets. I have to say it really annoys me. I know a few people looking around to buy second or even third homes as an investment. We have a house that is our home I just think it is a bit greedy to go and buy up available housing like that when so many people just can outbid wealthier people looking to turn property into an income. It would be totally fine if their wasn't the housing shortage there is but as it stands I think it is pretty greedy, selfish behaviour.

It's their money and they can choose how to spend it

true, and if they buy at the top of the market when conditions are favorable and then find that the wind changes, they just have to suck it up

so better make sure there's enough wiggle room

doh...I forgot to bold
It's their money and they can choose how to spend it

its the tax distortion of the lack of a land tax in the UK
I'm no expert but I'm thinking that could change the picture considerably Ta1kinpeace?

too radical though?

YANBU. BTL landlords, council houses being sold off and overseas investors are the three main reasons for the state of the current property market. People love to blame immigrants, of course...

Thankfully I didn't buy at the top of the market suzanne

you'll be just golden then wont you Nutella

unless the regulatory framework and economic incentives do some sort of volte face

I trust you wont be bitter if they do :)

Thank youTalkinPeace. I agree.

To the folks saying, "Well, that's capitalism," I would say, capitalism works best with sensible regulation and a tax system that isn't purposely skewing the market.

I really don't understand your bitterness suzanne if someone chooses to buy something that they have worked hard for and it's available to them then why shouldn't they? There are things I wish I could buy that I can't afford but I don't get angry when someone else can to buy it. That's life. If it transpired that the laws changed and it would have a negative impact then I and my DP would consider selling. There's not a huge amount left to pay off so we'd let them go.

Nutella you sound so defensive

Not really suzanne just can't understand your vitriol towards people who can afford to buy property. It's strange.

Plus I think if you were given the voice to supplement your income with a second property then these "principles" you hold would go out the window

*choice

Another LL (of one property) here. Don't think I'll be converting anyone to my LLing ways, but do want to weigh in as the aggro towards Nutella particularly seems to warrant a response.

"It is about working smart. It's also about saying no to holidays and smart phones and going out when your young. It's about being 18 and saying no, I won't go out, I'll save this £30 and it will go towards a deposit when I'm 30."

^^ This sums it up for me.

Like most people, I didn't wake up one day to find a deposit for my home/BTL in my bank account. I lived in a dodgy shared flat for four years with the aim of saving most of my salary, took plenty of overtime at work, took a job that was more "City" than I would have liked, delayed having children. When I bought my flat it didn't tick many boxes of garden/room size/ceiling height/city centre - it was good enough, and I was realistic about how far my money would stretch.

I was able to buy at 29, in SE London. (No parental help, no lottery win, no conveniently deceased rellies.) Most of my work colleagues were pissing their salaries away down the pub and on fancy holidays.

If you wake up aged 30, with a couple of kids, in a low-paying job, and think, "Gee, better buy my own place!" then, yes, it will take a good long while to save up. That would be the case even if the property market in the UK was regulated more heavily.

vitriolic?
not really Nutella

so you're assuming that I rent and I don't have enough savings to buy a property?

I'm talking more about a second property which I'm assuming you don't have or else you're argument on here makes no sense....

what if schools were all put up for sale, people who could afford to bought them up and ran them for their own profit, and some parents could barely afford to educate their children?

your. To be fair we're never going to agree suzanne* and as fun as this has been I've got a Saturday night to enjoy! enjoys yours too

suzanne no point going into the what ifs. That's not reality. Anyway like I said enjoy your Saturday night. Safe to say I won't be selling my properties for the greater good anytime soon

for all you know I might own my own property and have enough in the bank to buy a second one

but anyway, my argument, in a nutshell is that the housing market is largely a clusterfuck due to general mismanagement.
The rise in BTL LL are one factor which has contributed to the current dysfunctional situation

capische?

no point going into the what ifs

so, not familiar with the technique of using analogies to illustrate an argument then?

Suzanne I keep getting emails to say you're still going at it. Please don't try to belittle me. I'm well aware of what an analogy is. However, I like to stick to facts. People are free to buy second homes and I'm pleased that they do if it supports their nearest and dearest. You come across as incredibly bitter about the whole thing and it's odd. People are free to invest their money in a variety of different ways and property is lucrative. That's the bottom line. Until there is a more lucrative strategy then that won't change.....so you'll just need to keep hitting out with your analogies....

Nutella please don't try to patronise me with the passive aggressive use of the :) emoticon
it's such a cheap tactic :)

well there isn't a yawning emoticon....

hehe
could maybe cobble something together using semi colons and what not
I'll see what I can come up with for you