To hate landlords?

[MsPeachh]

Last month, I had to move suddenly. I found the flat I’m in now, it had just been bought by my landlord and I’m the first person in after the former owner moved out. It’s an ex-council house that the owner had purchased under “right to buy” and now I have to pay a third of my salary to a private landlord for what was originally meant to be affordable housing.

I’m a scientist in my late twenties with good qualifications and I feel total despair that I might never be able to afford my own home, and I will be lining someone else’s pockets via rent for the rest of my life. Let alone what anyone in a position less fortunate than mine is supposed to do.

To make matters worse, I looked up my landlord’s info on Companies House and I discovered that they have 22 properties in my area! It’s a village on the outskirts of a town where lots of people move when they are ready to move out of the hustle and bustle and settle to raise kids. And more and more of these properties are being snapped up by this landlord. It makes me sick, honestly. I know a lot of people become landlords accidentally in later life due to remarrying etc and ending up with two houses between one couple, but this landlord sucking up 22 houses in such a small area disgusts me. I feel like I’m completely losing hope for the future of people my age and younger as house prices keep soaring and soaring.

AIBU?

@itsadress yes

The hard part is raising the deposit and the hardest part is lowering your expectations about where you will live.

@itsadress yes they can borrow 5x salaries. In non covid times anyway. That isn’t unusual.

I don't have an issue with landlords as such but it's frustrating that I'm in my 40's and will never be able to buy because I pay so much in rent. I made some huge errors with money in my past so I have poor credit. Despite a proven history in paying rent on time I can't get a mortgage which would cost less per month

@Puzzledandpissedoff

Saving once you have kids is very hard she to childcare costs

Absolutely, yes - which is why your advice to your DCs is very wise

The point is that none of us can have everything we want all time. It's great to spend a few years splashing the cash without thinking much of the future, but that's a free choice and it's hardly up to others to pick up the consequences

Agree with this. I’d have loved to have spent my twenties going on fancy holidays and having children earlier. As it is I prioritised buying a house, so chose to have a baby once I had bought and had a few years paying the mortgage, and will probably stop at two children as we won’t be able to afford the type of house website saving for now with more kids! Unless your from a wealthy family you can’t have everything. It’s what you choose to prioritise. If you choose to prioritise holidays, eating out and cars etc in your twenties, then a baby before you buy a house that’s your choice but no one should then complain they can’t afford a house.

Oh I know you could do that in the "old" days, I'm taking about now or last year. Mortgage lending is much tighter now & banks often check you can still afford your mortgage with interest rates at say 6%.

I believed that those most likely to get a mortgage x 5 their salary need the following excellent credit rating, low LTV, above average income, low outgoings.

I know Santander's criteria is the below

Santander offers 5 times salary income multiples to borrowers earning between £45,000 and £99,000 and 5.5 times salary to those earning over £100,000. To qualify for the more generous mortgages applicants will need to have a 40% deposit; otherwise, the income multiples is reduced to 4.45 x salary.

I got 95% on 20k as a single applicant 4.5x my wage few years ago... Wouldn't count that as "old days"...

Obviously, mind me, we are all aware it's a different matter during pandemic.

@ApplePie86

Sorry but YABVVVU

It was entirely your choice to rent the property and pay a third of your salary for the privilege.

If you don't want to rent then save up a modest 5% deposit and buy somewhere with a similar government scheme to previous owner.

Just as you have chosen your job, your landlord has possibly chosen to be a property owner/developer or whatever.

Just because they own multiple properties doesn't mean they haven't worked exceptionally hard to do this.

Very unreasonable to hate your landlord for this reason.

I don't think that 5% deposit mortgages are readily available these day, my understanding from a recent conversation with a friend is that 15 - 20% deposits are required. I've not looked into this personally so I may be wrong

@GlummyMcGlummerson

I honestly think landlord hate us very weird and seems to come from a place of jealousy with a lot of people

This! Like they wouldn’t be doing the same thing if they were in a position to be able to.

@SchrodingersImmigrant Thats great but I'm specifically talking about 5x for lower earners, did you miss that?

Even though it calls for a decent salary, I admit the 5x salary thing frightens the hell out of me. It's a complicated subject I know, but surely this is just enabling ridiculous house prices?

Ditto the stamp duty thing which is driving sales right now. Obviously there's the worry about negative equity if prices drop, but with so much unemployment coming down the line I can see them dropping no matter what we do

@itsadress

Oh I know you could do that in the "old" days, I'm taking about now or last year. Mortgage lending is much tighter now & banks often check you can still afford your mortgage with interest rates at say 6%.

I believed that those most likely to get a mortgage x 5 their salary need the following excellent credit rating, low LTV, above average income, low outgoings.

I know Santander's criteria is the below

Santander offers 5 times salary income multiples to borrowers earning between £45,000 and £99,000 and 5.5 times salary to those earning over £100,000. To qualify for the more generous mortgages applicants will need to have a 40% deposit; otherwise, the income multiples is reduced to 4.45 x salary.

Last year you still could. This year no, but then nothing’s normal right now. It’ll probably go back to normal next year again. Santander is just one bank, there are mortgage lenders more suited to different circumstances who will lend more to lower incomes or worse credit ratings. A good mortgage broker (free not paid) will find the most suited lender.

@HateIsNotGood

I'm lucky enough to own with a maneagable mortgage (and I'm oldish) and OP's and other PPs situation does make me a bit pig-sick too. High Rents to cover BTL Mortgages + etc. Little chance for Tenants to save anything for their own mortgage.

And the Tenant gets to be regularly inspected, often with absurd 'rules' - no putting up picture, no pets and often not even any kids.

Vetted to the nth degree with no guarantee that this is their home.

Makes my blood boil it does.

Agree!!

@Racoonworld who was that with?

I'm fully aware you can borrow up to 6x your salary however the example given was 2 posters on minimum wage & a low LTV having the opportunity to do so.

All this “I grafted in my twenties, never drank takeaway coffee, didn’t have a shiny new iPhone” stuff is utterly irrelvant. Couples in poorly paid work in many areas of the country simply couldn’t buy a property no matter what at their lifestyle choices. That wasn’t the case in the past.

Property ownership is a way of making money. If there is a way to make money then those with money will exploit it.

Blame the government not landlords. The distribution of wealth in this country is revolting and it’s getting worse.

I say this as a homeowner who was lucky enough to be able to save a deposit and buy 20 years ago by scrimping and saving. I acknowledge that things are more difficult these days and don’t use it as a way of making people feel bad. In the same way, my parents who could afford a three bed detached in the south east on one civil service salary with three kids in the eighties, understand that my partner and I who work full time professional roles have no hope of a house like them even if we stop with the avocado toast and lattes!

I find the landlord hate very odd as well. I own a house now but so rented for most of my twenties. I moved lots and wouldn't have been able to do that without the private rental sector.

I have often thought I would like to be a landlord if I'm able to in future and provide the kind of home I would have liked myself when I was in my early twenties.

[quote itsadress]@Racoonworld who was that with?

I'm fully aware you can borrow up to 6x your salary however the example given was 2 posters on minimum wage & a low LTV having the opportunity to do so. [/quote]
When I was single, on a low wage and bought my first property it was Nationwide that let me borrow 5.5x. That wasn’t too long ago. This year all banks have tightened up but once the pandemic have gone there will be new deals around.

@Puzzledandpissedoff it is scary, we were offered over 5.5 times but didn't take that much. Plus we have a lot of equity so had access to better rates.
The issue with extending yourself to the maximum is it only works if prices keep going up & you can stay put.

I'm in London & in my area house prices here have pretty much stagnated over the last 4 yrs once you take into account stamp duty.

I know lots of people who can't afford to move up the ladder, there was a good article in the FT (i think) about it.

My landlord is an absolute cow. They bought the house 20 years ago, lived in it for 2 years then emigrated to Australia. No maintenance to the property except legalities. Everything needs replacing, carpets, electrics, windows, roof, kitchen, bathroom etc, we tried to purchase it but nope won't sell and have the cheek to put the rent up. The whole house looks so tired and run down. Landlord is so completely unreasonable. Electrics were tested as new laws came in and they failed and so the house need a rewire as a legality. Now we have to pay money for a holiday let so the electrics can be done.

@Racoonworld how long ago was it?

who probably trousered a huge discount and then profited again by selling it?

Can we please all collectively decide to use "trousered" instead of "pocketed" from now on, it's so much better.

We are also now saving for our next house, whilst paying our extortionate south east mortgage and huge nursery fees. I’ve worked out that if I save an extra £20 a week (the cost of a takeaway) it will give us an extra £8000 in 8 years which is the moving fees covered just by cutting out a takeaway. Little things really do add up.

[quote itsadress]@Racoonworld how long ago was it? [/quote]
About 6 years ago. I have friends in a similar position who have done it much more recently. Why so many questions about me? What’s your situation?

2014 is when the law changed.

Sorry, Hangingover Thought actually you're quite right, since "pocketed" is suitably gender neutral ...

The issue with extending yourself to the maximum is it only works if prices keep going up & you can stay put

Yes, and that's why I worry about the overheated market and what'll happen with prices because of job losses