To wonder how people afford to private rent and think there should be a cap on it

[user1498221998]

From the age of 21 I have rented from Housing Association. When I finished my University studies I was unemployed and didn't want to return to my Parents or house share so I applied for social housing. Got given a HA apartment and when I had my Son at 23 I got given a council house.

I've never had the money to buy or private rent so never got to live somewhere I actually wanted and always felt upset and angry at the fact I lived somewhere I didn't like and couldn't move.

I'm in the process of moving to a smaller house but in an area I prefer. I am moving from a two bed semi detached house to a two up two down terraced house but I will be happier there. When viewing I got speaking to the neighbour who informed me she pays £750 a month to rent her house privately!!!! I was absolutely stunned. This is a fairl;y grotty, tiny two bed terraced house in a rough part of Manchester (Central though which pushes the price up).

Intrigued I went on rightmove and found the house I currently rent for £380 a month is on a street where the houses are £700 a month to rent!!!

I am stunned! I've never private rented so never knew the cost. I will appreciate my HA property so much more now.

Both houses are worth about £120k. That's a lot of rent for 120k house. I can understand high rents in desirable areas but these are not. I earn 29k and couldn't afford to rent privately. How do people afford it?

AIBU to think there should be some cap on how much private landlords can charge?

A rather goady thread, OP. Do you want praise for playing the system to your advantage?

Sure people can move back with parents but to get on in life and realise your full adult potential it is better if you can have your own home, build your own life
We are a wealthy modern country and shouldn't be reverting to traditional extended family living
We need to enable people to move forward not price them out of ever getting the first foothold on independent living

I grew up in another country and if you can't afford your own place after uni, tough. back to mum and dad. many people I went to uni had to do this

What about those of us who don't have a mum and dad to go back to, or indeed didn't go to uni?

Then you should be eligible for HA. But the OP did go to Uni and did have parents to move back in with or flatshare with other friends and yet chose not to and took up a place for someone who may well have needed it more, further down the line once the OP was earning 29k. I don't agree with life-time tenancies.

They need to make it easier to get a mortgage, if you can prove you've paid rent consistently for a set period of time then you should be able to get a loan without a deposit.

We are a wealthy modern country and shouldn't be reverting to traditional extended family living

we are a wealthy modern country with terrible demographics, and in about 10 years we are going to have a large number of retirees with no savings.

The trouble is that people clamour for more benefits, when all that does is increase demand, not supply. Not only do benefits not create homes, the government can't build homes because it is forking out a fortune in hb.

What about those of us who don't have a mum and dad to go back to, or indeed didn't go to uni?

I flat shared. if you didn't go to uni can I assume you are in employment? I certainly sympathize with someone with no parents and a child. Those people should be helped. But we are unfortunately housing people who simply prefer to not to live with parents.

Im paying £550 for a 2 bed terrace in an area just south of manchester on 18k a year, (plus tax credits as i have a child). Going to move this week to a 3 bed mews style for £585 and very lucky to be paying that little as that kind of house is usually closer to £700 a month.

Estate agent has put my current two bed up at £575, not sure if it will get that as it is not double glazed and house next door which is double glazed and newly done up is also on at £600.

Before this i was in a large 1 bed flat within walking distance of center stockport for £475 for 2 years (16k salary) until i got pregnant and moved here at 6 month pregnant to be closer to family - that flat was put up and rented very quickly at £525 when i moved out.

I have been either lucky or good at finding vv cheap places to rent.

Was also on the council list as my partner left and they served a section 21 on me because my wages alone didnt cover the affordability for this place - the 2 bed places i was bidding on are between £80 and £110 a week so would have been cheaper, i did get points for living in area, family in area and working in area though but didnt get the points for insecurity of tenancy because estate agent told council that they would renew the tenancy despite the sec 21. But when i mentioned going onto housing benefit to estate agents (extended maternity) they have decided against the renewal.

I don't understand why everyone is going off at the op for living in a council house that you think she doesn't deserve? Private renting really does suck and I pay a lot more and earn less than the op (and my landlord is a cunt) but I don't begrudge her her home. There is always someone worse off than you, are any of you really saying that if you were offered a council house that you would turn it down because someone else might need it more? Its not just about affordability, social housing offers stability that you will never get in the private rental market

*Oh and, here at least, if you rent privately you will only get the equivalant of required HA property in housing benefit.

So while an identical 3-bed in my area would be 125 a month, I only get the equivalent of a 2-bed in HB. The top up I have to pay myself.
(When applied to HA tenants this what's known as the "bedroom tax", however it has applied to private tenants much longer than since the "bedroom tax" introduction)*

It works slightly differently though, hence the issue people have with it.

If you privately rent a 3 bed house that costs £500 a month, but you only need a 2 bed then you only get £400 toward your rent. It doesn't matter how big your house is, you get your £400.

My friend was in the crazy situation if being in social housing 3 bed. It costs £330 per month (it's a shit house in a shit location) She's only entitled to a 1 bed so if he rented privately she'd be entitled to £349 a month housing benefit, but because of the 2 spare rooms she was losing 25% in bedroom tax. So she's had to move because she can't cover that 25%... absolute madness. Now the hb (she's disabled and is unlikely to get back to work) pays £19 a month more, she tops it up because it's dearer and when her condition deteriorates and she needs full time carers she will have to move again.

Absolute madness. All they had to do was only ever allow people rate for their size need and that would have been fine.

Is this the lovely house you didn't want to leave a few days ago or a different one? You seem to be all over the place, op.

I've never had the money to buy or private rent so never got to live somewhere I actually wanted and always felt upset and angry at the fact I lived somewhere I didn't like and couldn't move.

Upset and angry really?? when I got married in 1972 DH and I not afford to rent in the area I was came from ,where my friends and family were and where I worked, so we moved to somewhere we could afford, after a few years we were able to afford to buy and guess what we couldn't afford to buy where we were renting so had to move into a cheaper area, I didn't realise that I should have been 'upset and angry' because of the situation, to us it was just how it was and we made the best of it

Imposing a rent ceiling is poor economic policy.

It's that simple.

Also when I was renting straight out of uni in Sydney, I was paying $600 per week for a one bed. That's life. If you can't afford to live there, you either adjust your standards or move elsewhere.

I don't know, I private rent (in Leeds) and I have never been forced to pay that much. I currently pay £450 for a large 2 bed flat with a garden. Obviously some areas are more expensive than others but that is true of house buying prices too. I am surprised Manchester is so much more expensive.

Some of my friends rent trendy city flats and those are ridiculous (£800 pcm anyone?!) but there are also very reasonable prices to be had too.

I've always had good experiences with my landlords too.

Wait, I've just read you earn 29K? WTF? That's a huge salary. You should not be in social housing.

It is ridiculous. We rented a tiny 2 up 2 down house for £600pcm. We've now bought a nice sized 3 bedroom house and the mortgage is £450pcm.

I also think as well as rent caps, there need to be more schemes to help people by as generally mortgages are so much cheaper.

We did help to buy, but it's still hard to come up with 5% deposit, especially if you're renting at the same time!

£29k, factoring in plan 1 student loan repayments, a standard 1150L tax code and and a basic 1% private pension contribution amounts to £1813.12 per month. £750 rent would leave £1063.12.

I'm not trying to flame the OP and obviously don't claim to know their exact financial circumstances but I don't understand, especially with tax free childcare etc in play, why OP feels this is so unreasonable and out of reach. I have plenty of friends who currently live on less, raising children, while renting privately - and I've also done so in the past.

I pay £2300 in SW London for a very small 3 bed terrace house. Am renting for 18 months after sale of family home post divorce. I only earn £16000, so have used £50k of house sale money.
I'm moving 300 miles away in January where I've bought a house outright.
£50k

I pay £200/week for a 1 bed in Colchester, Essex. I get housing benefit so only really pay 60 but some landlords refused to take me b/c I have a child.

It's crazy. If I were back in London I wouldn't get any landlord to take me.

I rent out a flat. It is let at market rates.

We live in a free market. How can I be told how much I can charge for something that belongs to me? Where would it end? Plumbers being told what their hourly rate must be, supermarkets being price capped on products? It would be the same principle.

WHat is mind boggling is that many are paying rent that would be equivalent to a mortgage payment . But since they can't stump up a massive deposit are stuck renting and therefore paying their landlords deposit!!
I don't know the solution - I know that the rend for subprime mortgage lending in the USA lead to the crash but there has to be a middle ground

Lindy it's not so much that, lf course landlords are entitled to charge what they want but many people in well paying jobs are genuinely struggling to afford to keep a roof over their head in the private renting market, which I think should horrify a lot of people to be honest. It's particularly frustrating when 90% of the people who live nearby own their houses outright and pay as little as a third of what we're paying a month but have the luxury of owning their own home so don't have to worry.

I understood why we had to stop 100% mortgages (in a way, although it's primarily because banks are wankers) but honestly it is so unfair when I've spent between £700 and £900 a month in rent for 7 years but am told that's not enough proof that I can afford a £500 mortgage on the house?! And as I stated previously I could take out a personal loan for a 5% deposit and a mortgage for the 95% and it would be about the same as my rent. But that's not allowed? No sense.

Who are you to call someone's house grotty when you rely on government handouts just to survive? I'd take my own grotty bricks and mortar over government handouts any day thanks. Upset and angry you didn't bother to save? Blame the world op. Blame anyone but yourself!

when i earnt 27k i paid 750pcm rent (for a tiny, and i really mean tiny 1 bed attic flat) and lived alone. i was fine. sensible, but fine.

not that that makes it ok. but if you aren't being helped out by the council (we obviously can't all be) you just manage don't you. what other option is there?

We earn combined £26000 per annum and private rent a 2 bed with no parking and a shared access garden for £800 a month this has just gone up from £780 a month to pay for the new landlord tax!

Our rent is actually cheap for this road as the house needs some work done, our neighbours have an identical house and pay £950 a month.

We have 2 children ds and dd and there's no way we could afford a 3 bed and I can't even get on the council list until ds is 9 as they are deemed able to share a room until he is 10