There should be an upper limit on rental prices

[HereLiveIAmNotACat]

Am I the only one that thinks the property investment industry is horrendous and shows how awful, greedy and selfish mankind can be? Surely there should be laws around this? Or caps on the maximum profit a homeowner can make per month relative to any mortgage on the property?
How can it be right that rental prices are ludicrously above mortgage prices purely for the homeowners to benefit from someone else paying off their mortgage and make a pretty penny on top.. then moving on to their third, fourth houses etc..meanwhile renters are stuck forking up more than they can afford with little chance of ever making it onto the property ladder due to the impossibility of saving up whilst paying rent.
Unless you were fortunate enough to have a property in the 80s before inflation/money from family you’re screwed really.
Just means less and less rental properties being available. The rich getting richer the poor getting poorer. And it’s always ‘oh it’s brilliant we’ve paid that mortgage off and are making such and such per month renting out..we’re now moving to a much larger house in a much nicer area’ as if that’s something to be proud of?!

(Yes- bitter renter here)

It is bitter and this kind of negative thinking won't help your own property situation. Even if it is the truth.

Why just rent? Why not price caps on everything? The logic is the same, surely?

there is no connection between a mortgage and rent... the area, size of property, condition of property etc is what decides the rent

YANBU but it would be really difficult to do anything directly about it

We lived in Berlin when they brought in a rental cap there, landlords pulled all sorts of tricks to get round it and then the courts overturned it

I think the only real answer is more social housing which of course this government will never do

So if the owner pays off the mortgage, they are only allowed to charge a token rent?

I'm not denying the rental market UK is messed up, but its really not that simple.

Totally agree OP but it will never happen because the ones that make the laws about it are the ones that make money out of it.

Not bitter at all. You're completely right it's totally corrupt. There is a housing crisis and there isn't an easy fix.

then moving on to their third, fourth houses etc..

Most landlords have only one rental property. If the property is mortgaged, the owner should have a buy-to-let mortgage which is more expensive than a conventional mortage. Most mortgage providers will allow a property to be rented out at 20% over the mortgage rate to cover expenses.

Don't forget the government makes a lot of money by charging tax to landlords income - 40% in a lot of cases. So the government is very much profiting from rental prices (and purchase prices with stamp duty...)

Completely agree. Where I live the rental prices have gone up so much the last two years, for such tiny houses/flats that don't even look nice and have so many things that are not working. It's really criminal when landlord don't even try to fix things and choose the cheapest ways out in every single thing not caring about the quality of the spaces they let.

Totally agree, I’ll never get on the property ladder and tbh I’m quite happy to rent but I wish I could find a decent landlord who doesn’t charge the earth for a basic property (and then takes forever to do essential repairs!)

BTL mortgages are interest only (not saying every LL has a BTL mortgage, but I would imagine most do). You aren’t ‘paying off their mortgage’

The profit after insurance, maintenance, agency fees, and tax (the major expense) is no where near as high as most people think… although to look at the difference between our BTL mortgage and our tenant’s rent, you’d think we would be rolling in it.

I first bought in 2010, not the 80s. There was no financial help from family, although I did pool savings with DH. I managed to save £10,000 towards a deposit and legal fees etc by living in a house share for 4 years despite earning a good salary. DH and I then bought a 2 up 2 down (despite being offered a mortgage for 4 times the amount needed) 3 hours away from our family, where the work was.

I’m sorry you’re finding renting tough.. but blaming Landlords isn’t the answer

@AlfonsoTheUnrepentant

then moving on to their third, fourth houses etc..

Most landlords have only one rental property. If the property is mortgaged, the owner should have a buy-to-let mortgage which is more expensive than a conventional mortage. Most mortgage providers will allow a property to be rented out at 20% over the mortgage rate to cover expenses.

Actually over half of individual landlords let more than one property.

What about properties that don’t have a mortgage on them?

What about people that rent out luxury properties in very expensive areas, why shouldn’t people expect to pay for things like that?

I know renting doesn’t always work where landlords are not fit for purpose, but they are the minority, and in theory when you rent, you are buying a service. Renters should expect to pay more than a monthly mortgage repayment because 1) they haven’t taken the financial risk or paid a substantial deposit 2) they are paying for someone else to take responsibility for maintenance of the building, which is a service

Rent not only has to cover mortgage but insurance, agents fee if managed by an agent, maintenence.

I agree rent is expensive but most landlords only have 1 property. Owning isn't cheap though anchors maintenence is expensive and has only got massively more expensive during covid.

Here a 3 bed house used to be £525 / £550 pm now you can’t get even the roughest of houses for less than £750 some are £900 pm which is a ridiculous amount of money . 3 bed houses on a nice estate £1200 !
That’s more than I earn a month add on deposits and fees and the prices are just shocking . We need to move so I can have my children living with me but we are stuck in a one bed flat because we can’t afford the rent ! I don’t know how people who are claiming benefits are getting on finding properties because we both work and can’t afford to save for deposit and fees so I feel for people who don’t work .
No wonder there are so many people on the social housing lists .

We are 40 and own our home. We did not have any help at all from our parents, we certainly didn’t buy in the 80’s as we were at primary school. Landlords have more costs than just the mortgage. If you own your home all maintenance and repairs fall to you. The landlord is expected to cover repairs, maintenance, insurance, safety certificates and pay extra tax so of course they charge more than the mortgage costs to cover. It all.

Rent not only has to cover mortgage but insurance, agents fee if managed by an agent, maintenence.

Err no- rent covers the market rate or thereabouts of the property. The mortgage, insurance, agents fees and maintenance are the landlords costs. The rent does not have to cover them.

Well, landlords don't have to let you use their asset. So you introduce rent controls and landlords decide they don't want to rent their properties out anymore. Where are you going to live?

What a great idea, but why stop at limiting rent?. Also. everybody has to drive a Mini, wear gymshoes, and spend no more than 30 per week on food. One shower a week.

With all the money we save we'll soon be able to buy a house.

“Let you use their asset”

@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry

Rent not only has to cover mortgage but insurance, agents fee if managed by an agent, maintenence.

Err no- rent covers the market rate or thereabouts of the property. The mortgage, insurance, agents fees and maintenance are the landlords costs. The rent does not have to cover them.

Of course it does or it's no longer a viable business!

@3cats4poniesandababy

Rent not only has to cover mortgage but insurance, agents fee if managed by an agent, maintenence.

I agree rent is expensive but most landlords only have 1 property. Owning isn't cheap though anchors maintenence is expensive and has only got massively more expensive during covid.

This isn't true. According to statistics from gov.uk 55% of landlords let more than one property.

@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry

Rent not only has to cover mortgage but insurance, agents fee if managed by an agent, maintenence.

Err no- rent covers the market rate or thereabouts of the property. The mortgage, insurance, agents fees and maintenance are the landlords costs. The rent does not have to cover them.

If the rent doesn't cover the Landlords costs, it's hard to see why he'd let a tenant live there?

@Runningandhungry that was an England only survey. If you look at the LSE UK wide study it is over 60% of landlords only own 1 buy to let property. The vast majority of buy to let are owned by those with multiple properties but that will include social housing organisations