Selfish bastards on Homes Under The Hammer

[SquishyBones]

Watching this shit show as I was bored and a family bought a house. The woman then proudly explained that they already own 700(!!!) houses in the area already and are hoping to own 1000 by the end of the year. How the fuck is this even allowed?? AIBU to think selfish bastards like this should be stopped and there should be a cap on how many properties a person can own? Even 10 houses per person would be ridiculous but would stop the likes of these people

YABVU. If they have the money to buy them I don’t see what the issue is. It’s their money, they can do with it what they like.

it's only the UK that are obsessed with home ownership. To be fair, I think it's only on MN that you see such a level of obsession.

I’m not sure. Maybe it is the area I live in, and the demographic and age of my friends, family and work colleagues, but I know very few people who rent. They are all home owners. Disclaimer – we are nowhere near London and the home counties. I had no idea that there were so many people who rented until I joined mumsnet.

I think that our rental market needs to be more regulated to offer more protection to renters.

That's not always the case in other cities. There are still jobs in banking, law, medical staff, other professions, and the cruicial difference is that people in jobs that pay nurse and teacher type salaries (eg £25-35k) can buy property, unlike the south. So while you might earn less, your disposable income after housing costs is often more, especially as you're more likely to be able to live near work and not have to pay for a long commute.

That's certainly the case in my run-down northern seaside town. The "posher" areas are where the nurses, teachers, police, firemen, etc live. Not that they're "posh" in terms of Cheshire WAGS, but more of the nicer semis with gardens on wider roads, detached houses, etc., where prices are usually £125-£250k mark, easily affordable by a couple of teachers or emergency workers etc.

As a long term solution I would suggest that the government build houses and rent them on a large scale. If they made decent standard homes with a sensible rent then eventually (over a generation or more) they would drive the private landlords out of the market. Beginning with those who undercharge and don't repair etc.

Meanwhile you can't blame people for investing in something that is quite legal.

@Iamthewombat

Not if they were "black"! Because he didn't want the houses "smelling of curry". Or single parents. Or battered wives. Attached is an example of the guidance he sent to EAs who were letting his properties for him.

The document you attached doesn’t say anything about him not wanting black people or people who cook curry in his houses. Is that anecdotal?

This is going to be an unpopular view, but I’m not sure that it’s a private landlord’s responsibility to house somebody who might not be able to afford the rent. I suspect that is what the ‘letting criteria’ are about. If I owned a bunch of houses to rent, and that was my business, I wouldn’t be happy if I were effectively co-opted into providing social housing at below market rent by having to take a haircut in the rental income.

Not on that particular list no. However do Google Fergus Wilson and you'll find loads of links to the injunction brought against him for a letter to a letting agent stating just that - the BBC one is here.

This is a man with documented convictions of race hate and assault, try his Wikipedia entry for more details.

Note I'm not anti landlords in general (not one myself), but Wilson is a vile example of a human being.

OVERcharge obviously

I’m sure but the ability to eat and afford a roof over ones head is harder today and these things aren’t nice to haves Look, if you want to play the Monty Python game we can. But housing wasn't all that great 'back in the day' either!

A roof over ones head these days is different these days. Better in some ways, worse in others.

My Monty Python submission
I have attached a picture of the kitchen in a house that is very similar to the house I was born in. Bessie Braddock was known to my grandparents and parents and was a bloody shero, more people need to know about her.

Nick Hedges caught so much of the housing of my early life, 60s into the 70s.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4006564/The-slum-children-shocked-Swinging-Sixties-Britain.html

Of course, we were resolutely working class, poor. But this was our norm. I was about 10, living in a tied cottage, equally crap, damp as all go to hell, before anyone said it wasn't normal and moved us into a watertight, fully decorated house!

So do forgive me if I don't agree that housing is worse today than it was "back then". THIS is my starting position. My baseline, on which I base my opinions of what is now!

@BadBadBunny Whereas where I live, in the South West, I know people in the same professions who are living in shared houses because not only can they not buy, they're being priced out of even renting. Ridiculous situation when single keyworkers are only able to afford to rent a room.

The couples I know in those jobs have only been able to afford to buy in their 30s due to parents dying. A lot still privately rent (with children) because no inheritance to be had.

[quote WhereILiveIsWhereIStay]@BadBadBunny Whereas where I live, in the South West, I know people in the same professions who are living in shared houses because not only can they not buy, they're being priced out of even renting. Ridiculous situation when single keyworkers are only able to afford to rent a room.

The couples I know in those jobs have only been able to afford to buy in their 30s due to parents dying. A lot still privately rent (with children) because no inheritance to be had.[/quote]
If you can’t afford to live in the south, then move. No one has a right to live in an around one of the biggest metropolitan cities in the world.
And the argument about who will do the key worker roles just doesn’t stack up. Wages would be have to increase to bring people to the area for those roles.

Didn't watch the programme so can't comment on that particular couple. I do think there should be more recourse for tenants with landlords who don't maintain their properties to a decent standard.

Thinking back to my own days of renting, I was left without hot water in my kitchen and central heating for the last 10 months of a 12 month tenancy because the landlord was too tight to get someone out to fix it. I'd be in favour of a system where you can lodge a complaint with an independent third party. They then review whether you have a valid case for witholding a percentage of the rent to motivate the landlord to make the repairs.

On the other hand, I have a friend who was born into money and is a fulltime landlord of a few properties. He's been know to go round and do basic tasks like change lightbulbs for his tenants, so there are some good ones out there.

If I wasn't able to rent a property at 18 and move away from the area I was born in I'm not sure how my life would look. I lived rurally, my parents couldn't afford to pay for driving lessons for me. The public transport in that area is poor and there are very few jobs in the area anyway. Having the option to 'test the water' in a few different cities helped me work towards starting my own business, learning to drive and buying my home.

I know there's a housing shortage but let's not just build over every green field in Britain. Better planning is needed. Brown field sites, infill, old industrial areas, unoccupied properties reclaimed, better flats, not tower blocks etc

Whilst I think the opportunity to own your own home was very attractive for many people buying their council property in the Thatcher era, too much social housing was sold off and not enough built.Thus, private landlords filled the gap and they have not been regulated well.

I think that our rental market needs to be more regulated to offer more protection to renters.

Its OK as it is, could do with one or two small adjustments but the main problem is affordability. First house i bought around 10 grand in 1978 was affordable on the wage is was getting at the time my wife as a SEN nurse salliered too all fine and worked well..

Now that same house is valued at £450,000 now what money would you have to be earning without some perental help to afford that and thats the real problem.

Said house is rented out for 1100 a month to threee nurses who are very happy there, it provides accomadation to essental workers the council can't the hospital can't offer them accomodation so where do you expect them to live on the steets ot a fercking tent somewhere?.

Stop having a go at the private rented sector have a look at why peoplke can't afford to buy can't rent from local authoities and the like..

Perhaps BoJo will allow all thos hight street malls to be converted to low cost accomodation for young people?, coudl happen once the porcine accomodation bill pass thru parleymental!

I agree with those who say there will always be a need for rented properties for various reasons.

I do think, though, there should be more council housing. I'm old enough to remember RTB being brought in. I didn't agree with it then and still haven't changed my mind. It would be better if the money raised was poured into buying or building new council stock but Thatcher specifically banned this as she obviously wanted to rid the country of council housing, at the expense of potential future tenants.

Better planning is needed. Brown field sites, infill, old industrial areas, unoccupied properties reclaimed, better flats, not tower blocks etc Yes! If the Empty Houses info is correct then 72% of the housing gap could be met by empty properties, which would be in towns and cities, where there is infrastucture and work!

Whilst I think the opportunity to own your own home was very attractive for many people buying their council property in the Thatcher era, too much social housing was sold off and not enough built.Thus, private landlords filled the gap and they have not been regulated well Again, yes. Home ownership has been 'a thing' for the working class since the 80s. That is about 40 years, less than 2 generations, that have had home ownership as a goal.

I am sick of general consensus on Mumsnet that LL equals bad person
I let 6 houses to.profeddionsl couples and families. I have been invited to 2 of their weddings. Strange why someone would invite such a bad person to their wedding. We don't advertise as get people through word of mouth of current tenants. If a tenant has a broken washing machine it is replaced the same day if I am told before 5pm. If not then the next day. I allow tenants to have cats in house or rabbits in hutch in garden. When a tenant has a baby I give them a M&S gift card and flowers and if they get married a bottle of champagne. All I ask is tent is paid on time or if they have a problem I am told straight away. Also if they have a repair problem they notify me immediately and if going on holiday for more than 3 weeks notify me as it affects my insurance. I credit and reference check tenants myself. I don't use estate agents so this keeps rents down. All of my properties are kept in excellent repair. I have 2 families on a waiting list for one of my properties to be one vacant. Some tenants live in s house for 8 years or more. It is their home. Not all LL are bad. I bought houses with inheritance and if I put money in bank for my children the value of money would dwindle. They will have one house each and foster son will be given one too. They can share income from others.

@ssti234 Where did I say it was anywhere around London? It isn't, it's over 100 miles away.

It's fucking ridiculous that there's a housing situation in England where adult full time working professionals serving society and wanting to live in more than a fucking bedroom are just told to move hundreds of miles away from their friends and family.

Thinking back to my own days of renting, I was left without hot water in my kitchen and central heating for the last 10 months of a 12 month tenancy because the landlord was too tight to get someone out to fix it.

But now, the landlord would be in breach of contract and would be expected to pay for alternative accommodation for you, with hot water. In my last rental, the boiler in the flat broke and my landlady put me up in a Novotel in the middle of town for three nights whilst it was fixed. Not because she was especially kind, but because she had to.

Some people are never going to be able to buy. Bad credit rating, chaotic lives, mh problems etc etc etc.
The government are unfortunately not going to provide all these people with somewhere to live. They are selling off council houses not buying more.
So landlords need to exist.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers so maybe the answer is to move the job opportunities around a bit? That would take the pressure off the SE and house prices there would fall a bit, there would be better employment opportunities across the country, other areas would see house prices rising but not to current London levels.

Obviously that would mean other areas of the country would require investment which would be a novel thrill...

@unlikelytobe

I know there's a housing shortage but let's not just build over every green field in Britain. Better planning is needed. Brown field sites, infill, old industrial areas, unoccupied properties reclaimed, better flats, not tower blocks etc

Whilst I think the opportunity to own your own home was very attractive for many people buying their council property in the Thatcher era, too much social housing was sold off and not enough built.Thus, private landlords filled the gap and they have not been regulated well.

There isn't a universal housing shortage. There is a shortage of houses people can afford in the areas where there's work - mostly big cities.

I'm old enough to remember RTB being brought in. I didn't agree with it then and still haven't changed my mind. It would be better if the money raised was poured into buying or building new council stock but Thatcher specifically banned this as she obviously wanted to rid the country of council housing, at the expense of potential future tenants.

Did your family live in council housing? If they had, you might hold a different view. Why shouldn’t good tenants who had been paying rent to the council for years be given an opportunity to buy their flat or house? Poorer people were given a chance to improve their financial situation. I think it was the right choice.

That insufficient council houses were built afterwards is an entirely separate matter.

Some people are never going to be able to buy. Bad credit rating, chaotic lives, mh problems etc etc etc.

You are correct, and it shows how short people’s memories are. Ten years ago we were still dealing with the credit crunch and the ensuing financial crisis. Where did that start? Oh yes, with irresponsible lending to people who couldn’t afford a mortgage but who could be charged high interest rates. Then those crap mortgages were packaged up into derivatives, the risk of which few people, including the investment banks, understood.

Despite this, we still hear people agitating to borrow more and more, at multiples that would be unaffordable if interest rates rose by only 1% or 2%, to buy houses. Barmy.

RTB might have been a brilliant choice, if there had been better regulation around ring fencing the money for more social housing, actually replacing the housing stock; and more regualtion around selling on the properties bought etc. As it was they just paid lip service to it all and moved on to the next short term financial gain!

@GingerFluffycat I can’t remember. She was about to have a baby.

I'm not in the UK. I've just signed a new tenancy. My tenancy is for an indefinite period. I can decorate the place however I like. I'm allowed to have as many pets as I like, as long as they're not a nuisance. No agency or other fees, not even a deposit. And this is not council housing, it's normal market rent, but with all the rights and protections one needs to turn their house or flat into a home.

When I lived in the UK I couldn't wait to buy a place in order to not be at the mercy of a landlord, but I'm very happy renting in my new country.