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?

@Smallsteps88

Like I said, like it or not, there's always going to be a need for LLs

No need for them to be private individuals profiting from it though. Social housing authorities are also landlords.

This. And also, there's no need for the UK private rental system.

Private renting is much more secure and affordable in continental Europe.

The point is it's not a level playing field. If you want to buy a BTL as a first time purchase you need a big deposit to qualify for an interest only mortgage & often need to be earning over a certain amount. However as another poster said upthread someone with a BTL portfolio just borrowed against.

Then you have the huge increase in prices in many areas. My house has doubled in value, that's nothing to do with my hard work, I didn't do anything. Often people are paying more in rent then mortgage but struggle to save enough deposit.

Then you have the landlords who just see it as an alternative to a pension & don't treat it as a business ie investing in it. They want to put in as little money into it as possible.

We rented until our 40s, it's not easy for anyone at all, and you do come across a tiny bit entitled like you're the only one who is in the position.

I do feel your pain but you have choices, go into a shared house or back with parents or somewhere cheaper so you can save the deposit, there is always a way to achieve what you want, without bashing those who have clearly done well for themselves like your landlord.

We both worked raised two children renovated 3 homes fully by taking on absolute shitholes, lived in areas that were cheaper and gradually saved enough. It's very tough but not impossible.

Where does this notion come from that without LLs people would be on the street? Give me a break!

Well you’ve convinced me. I’ll evict my tenants tomorrow I’m sure they will be pleased.

@SarahAndQuack not sure what you're meaning, the example in my last post did have another way of earning money, as I said he worked in a high earning, physical job prior to buying the flats, he worked his way up his sector and made the choice to buy the flat outright and then bought the others too as he continued to do the job he was doing, he is now retired but would have been regardless of buying the flats as if he hadn't bought them he'd have had the money he used to buy the flats in the bank

@dhisreadingmypostsagain

We rented until our 40s, it's not easy for anyone at all, and you do come across a tiny bit entitled like you're the only one who is in the position.

I do feel your pain but you have choices, go into a shared house or back with parents or somewhere cheaper so you can save the deposit, there is always a way to achieve what you want, without bashing those who have clearly done well for themselves like your landlord.

We both worked raised two children renovated 3 homes fully by taking on absolute shitholes, lived in areas that were cheaper and gradually saved enough. It's very tough but not impossible.

Entitled, or just want the same opportunities as were afforded to previous generations?

How about playing them at their own game OP? BTL is based on rental income. Do your sums, start small and find yourself a property to buy with a BTL mortgage and then rent out. As the capital on your rental property increases you can either sell and use the money towards your own home or remortgage and invest in another rental property and build a portfolio.

Salaries versus house prices means nothing if you don’t consider interest rates. They are nothing compared to the 70s

@MsPeachh sorry my mistake not entitled just unrealistic and while you want to turn the clock back and live in the ideal world of the past house prices, plenty of others will make difference life choices look to the future and crack on in today's world.

Also what's to say your landlord isn't a GP, lawyer or banker that's grafted for many years to get to their position?

64 percent of households in England are owner-occupied. While this is down from 70 percent in 2000, it's still the majority.

Yes if you're old.

"The government statistics agency said home ownership had become increasingly concentrated among people over the age of 65. Almost three-quarters of adults in the generation that includes baby boomers born after the second world war own their own homes outright, up from just over half in 1993."

"Home ownership has collapsed for adults in their prime working age, according to official figures that show those in their mid-30s to mid-40s are three times more likely to rent than 20 years ago."

I think it's really sad that we are heading for a future that regardless of your education or job or how hard you work your life chances will be dictated by whether your parents owned a property or not.

@dhisreadingmypostsagain

We rented until our 40s, it's not easy for anyone at all, and you do come across a tiny bit entitled like you're the only one who is in the position.

I do feel your pain but you have choices, go into a shared house or back with parents or somewhere cheaper so you can save the deposit, there is always a way to achieve what you want, without bashing those who have clearly done well for themselves like your landlord.

We both worked raised two children renovated 3 homes fully by taking on absolute shitholes, lived in areas that were cheaper and gradually saved enough. It's very tough but not impossible.

Not everyone has parents who want them back, or circumstances that allow renting in a houseshare though. Not criticising you, but one size unfortunately doesn't fit all so some people can be up shit creek when it comes to saving for a deposit.

I agree. Renting is depressing when you can’t see a way out. Many landlords will be living extravagant retirements on the back of their tenants, while their tenants work to pay the rent into old age. It’s very sad.

[quote Lou98]@SarahAndQuack not sure what you're meaning, the example in my last post did have another way of earning money, as I said he worked in a high earning, physical job prior to buying the flats, he worked his way up his sector and made the choice to buy the flat outright and then bought the others too as he continued to do the job he was doing, he is now retired but would have been regardless of buying the flats as if he hadn't bought them he'd have had the money he used to buy the flats in the bank [/quote]
My point is that he could have done something else. He wasn't going to be penniless if he didn't buy and then rent.

So he didn't need to be a landlord.

Very few people do. The government could make it prohibitively difficult to be LL; they won't. They could make it easy - but slightly more difficult than it currently is - by requiring LLs to treat tenants properly. They won't. That's the problem, and that's my point.

[quote dhisreadingmypostsagain]@MsPeachh sorry my mistake not entitled just unrealistic and while you want to turn the clock back and live in the ideal world of the past house prices, plenty of others will make difference life choices look to the future and crack on in today's world.

Also what's to say your landlord isn't a GP, lawyer or banker that's grafted for many years to get to their position? [/quote]
So what life choices do you suggest then? I’m already sharing to save money- with a friend who was looking to move out from her parents’ place.

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 can’t buy my council house as I don’t live in one, nor would I ever be offered one- there are literal homeless people who are waiting for one. Plus, I’d be depleting the stock of social housing even further for those who need one.

Also I have to laugh at your ignorance if you think it’s realistic for first time buyers to be offered a 95% mortgage.

Didn't suggest you but your current property or a council house.

Also didn't suggest there were 95% LTV mortgages. Plenty of government affordable housing programmes, shared equity etc where you can use a 5% deposit and use government for 20% or just buy 25/50% equity in a property. Or...move somewhere more affordable.

And also, it would be so much easier if home ownership wasn't the be all and end all. But where I am it is. I want to leave something to my child. I think on the continent the system is quite different.

@dhisreadingmypostsagain

We rented until our 40s, it's not easy for anyone at all, and you do come across a tiny bit entitled like you're the only one who is in the position.

I do feel your pain but you have choices, go into a shared house or back with parents or somewhere cheaper so you can save the deposit, there is always a way to achieve what you want, without bashing those who have clearly done well for themselves like your landlord.

We both worked raised two children renovated 3 homes fully by taking on absolute shitholes, lived in areas that were cheaper and gradually saved enough. It's very tough but not impossible.

But what about people who don't have rich parents?!

Renovating homes and living in cheap areas is not 'very tough'. It's a huge privilege, isn't it?

Salaries versus house prices means nothing if you don’t consider interest rates. They are nothing compared to the 70s

My home cost around 9k in the mid 70s, now they sell for more than 800k.

@DustyMaiden

Salaries versus house prices means nothing if you don’t consider interest rates. They are nothing compared to the 70s

Exactly. Savings, i.e. for deposits, have been made almost worthless over the last two decades. All to prop up the housing bubble.

Those original buy to letters, so encouraged by king of Buy to Let Blair, weren't letting to unicorns. They were letting to others of their generation.

Wrt generations. The very worse off are the middle-aged. No access to depleted social housing, nor to owning - being too old for most mortgages and ineligible for taxpayer funded help to buy schemes.

The over 40s are the fastest growing group of private renters - and include many disabled people.

If you don't want to rent then save up a modest 5% deposit

And in the meantime, while OP is saving up that “modest” 5%, where do you suggest she lives if she doesn’t rent?

Landlords are parasites and the older I get, the more firmly I believe this.

How are they parasites more than anyone else who has enough capital to invest that they need never work and can live off the sweat of others?

How is it more unjust than the wages of premiership footballers, the existence of the landed gentry or the monopoly of a few private schools over the levers of power?

It's horrible renting as there is no security in it. Generally landlords are greedy, charging extortionate rent because they know people need a place to live.
We could afford a mortgage more easily than our rent but everywhere we approached wanted a 10% or 7% deposit which is out of reach
If everyone owned just one property then everyone could get a mortgage and have security.
Unfortunately some people are incredibly selfish.

Where do disabled people reliant on benefits - the ones not killed by our government's quest to have a world beating Covid death rate - live? Social housing is severely depleted, private landlords rarely let to them, and they can't 'just save up'

Exactly @SheepandCow . I have some savings, but they can’t grow quickly enough to keep up with the year-on-year house price rises!