to think all buy to let people are just in it to get someone else to work to pay off their mortgage?

[madhurjazz]

I wish people would say it as it is. Buy to let in my mind is just about getting someone else that can't afford a deposit / without a stable job to do all the hard work to pay off the mortgage of someone else. It does feel like a massive step backwards in equality.

Very few actually want to rent, the vast majority are stuck doing so as speculation keeps pushing ownership out of reach.

[cosmicglittergirl]

*per person

[jcsp]

Buy to let, for us, is helping our children get on housing ladder and out of dire rented flats.

We've borrowed against our main house to get deposits, took out a 'car' loan etc.

They need our money now, not when we die. Their rent pays off mortgage. We break even. They are in decent houses now.

So far it's worked.

[Mar15mite]

I've got 2 BTL properties and they are an investment so yes the outcome is that the rent paid pays the mortgage.

I think Landlords get a hard time sometimes, I like pp charge fair rent, make more than the required checks etc. However that doesn't stop tenants not paying the rent. One of my properties the tenant hasn't paid rent for 10 months (£400 per month) and it has cost me £1200 to go through the legal process to get them evicted.

While I'm not suggesting anyone here would not pay their rent, it is a frequent occurrence and being a BTL landlord isn't some sort of easy street that it is portrayed as.

[LeaveMyWingsBehindMe]

Yes you a right OP. That's exactly why I do it.

It's marvellous. Some schmuck pays my several mortgages and I get to keep people who are younger than me and/or poorer than me exactly where I want them to make sure I stay on top of the heap and can spend my early retirement going on cruises.

[Ninasimoneinthemorning]

Oh get lost!

It's just the same as any other buisness and it is an investment one that our kids will benefit off. It's just bloody sour grapes when people start bleeting on about inequality. There is a massive shortage of council housing near me so private renting has to be an option. We lie in quite a run down area and rent is very low so it just about covers the mortgage, we don't make any money from it.

Stop being jealous.

[Iwasjustabouttosaythat]

This makes me think of those bastards that own the local shop. Do you know they buy the products in bulk then sell them at a higher price? They make an actual profit and keep that money for themselves. It's like they're running a business or something. Greedy fuckers.

[NNChangeAgain]

No other business gets that kind of government assistance no?

Lots of businesses receive Gov support!

Small business rate relief, money towards apprenticeships, relocation grants.....,

The government supports businesses who offer something that the country needs - including homes for people to live in.

If buy to let was outlawed, thousands of homes would be standing empty and thousands of people would be homeless.

[mysteryfairy]

And thanks too to the landlords who allow my DSs to study away from home. It would have been a total pain if we'd had to purchase houses in two random places!

[carabos]

Leavemywings are you my mother?

[NerrSnerr]

I had a small BTL for a few years as it will hard to sell. It broke even while I rented elsewhere with my husband. We chose to rent for that time as we were moving around and didn't want to settle. We finally bought somewhere when we decided to settle and have children and I was in the position to sell the flat.

[wherethewildthingis]

I am an accidental landlord because of negative equity. I rent a good quality, nice spacious house out for a low rent to a single parent with a little boy. I am a good landlord and keep the house well maintained and do any repairs promptly . yes, the rent is paying the mortgage but i really don't feel i am doing anything especially immoral!

[ImogenTubbs]

So, OP - what's the answer? DH and I owned individually before we got together and kept both places when we bought somewhere new. We're actually now renting in a new area and letting the place we bought together so are 'accidental' landlords of three places, as well as being tenants. We charge market rents (advised by estate agents, in some cases slightly less), we respond to issues quickly, don't put up the rent during a tenancy, and otherwise leave them all the hell alone.

It IS a good investment and I'm bloody glad we did it. Capital gains tax aside, it gives us a sense of stability and confidence in our futures that wouldn't exist otherwise.

I am genuinely sorry that more people can't do this, but fail to feel guilty or take the blame for all society's inequalities. Tell me, OP - what should I have done, and what would YOU have done in my situation?

[AyeAmarok]

I don't get the hate for landlords on here at all.

If you rent your property, if your landlord didn't rent it out, where would you live?

[LeaveMyWingsBehindMe]

possibly carabos, possibly.

[Ninasimoneinthemorning]

If buy to let was outlawed, thousands of homes would be standing empty and thousands of people would be homeless

Maybe folk that can't afford to buy a house should just be given one for free??

[SvalbardianPenguin]

Perhaps they are, but what is wrong with that? If they want to run a business of renting out houses as their job then good luck to them.
It's no different to any other job where you go to work to get the money to pay your mortgage - NHS workers and teachers could be said to be going to work to get the tax payers to pay their mortgage.

[judybloomno5]

Just another means of getting a return on your investment. Granted, the moral side of investing property and pushing price ms up should mean it's harder to invest in property. however the gov have made some steps towards making it harder with stamp duty.

[Nataleejah]

Its the whole system that sucks. Should add the "right to buy" social housing, which later becomes a "buy to let" property. Hence the shortage of social housing, state pays housing benefits so the "buy to let" owners can pay off the banks.

[Mosschopz]

What's fucking wrong with expecting BTL'ers to show some responsibility for their community?

I live on a naice street, built 6 years ago. A few of our original neighbours have moved out, moved tenants in, and showed little or no responsibility for their properties. Rental homes mean more cars on the street, short-term tenants who don't maintain their gardens, leave their bins on the street and all this leads to the inevitable lowering of property prices and subsequent value of their original investment. It was a very desirable and smart street at first, it's less so now. That annoys me.

[PotteringAlong]

I'm an accidental landlord because of negative equity. I don't want to do it but I can't afford not to.

[Ninasimoneinthemorning]

What's fucking wrong with expecting BTL'ers to show some responsibility for their community

What about the actual adults that are living in them?

[mollie123]

really - the selfish 'I'm all right jack' posters on here - too many to mention
If BTL was outlawed, house prices would not be pushed up by people BORROWING money (note it is not usually their own capital they are using) to buy houses to rent out and charging extortionate rents to those who cannot afford to compete for FTB houses.
If BTL was outlawed - the people who are forced to rent could buy the houses - of course they would have somewhere to live the houses would not disappear.
There are tax breaks for BTLs as the landlords can write off the interest payments on their mortgages against the rent as well as the dubious 'wear and tear' expenses on their property.
What I find most unacceptable about the selfish smug landlords is
I am superior because I have a portfolio of properties
I am kind - because I am a good landlord to my tenants and charge below market rents - yeah right of course you do
I am canny - because I am making loads of money out of my 'tenants'
I would never ever invest in BTL as I have a conscience about how my fellow man is treated and 'hoarding property' is antisocial and selfish.

[PaulDacreCuntyMcCuntFace]

There are all sorts of reasons why people get involved in BTL. There are good landlords and shit ones - just like in every other area of life. Most of the LL I know don't make money from their BTL now - even with the low interest rates. They're instead hoping that the properties will prove to be a pension for them. The new pension freedoms which mean that you don't have to buy an annuity anymore, has led to an increase in BTL as pensioners want somewhere steady and safe to invest their money.

The issue with BTL in this country is that it's not regulated enough. There needs to be a register, with council inspections of the properties and proof that the property is insured for LL liability etc., kept in a good condition, gas safety checks up to date etc. There also need to be more protections around advertising long term lets and then selling up 3 months later, although what the answer to that is I don't know. I say all of this as a LL myself BTW. My property, but it's someone else's home. Tenants need security, stability and the knowledge that their rent isn't going to dive up every 6 months, that they aren't going to be charged stupid rip-off fees for 'renewing leases' (fees are my personal bugbear, I don't charge them and don't agree with them). But then I have been a tenant myself and know what it's like, so always try and be distant but available to tenants - I'm at the end of the phone if there's a problem, but other than that I'm not going to see you. They want to be left alone to live in the house and if they're paying on time and not burning the place down and pissing off the neighbours, then I don't need to know any more.

[Nataleejah]

Quite the opposite here. Lots of elderly residents in the what used to ba a working class affordable area. They either die or move to care homes, their houses go up for sale to private sector landlords. They hike up the rents, yuppies move in, there goes the neighbourhood. Social cleansing and gentrification on full scale.