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)

@XingMing

Is it next year that private LLs have to make sure new rentals meet a minimum C rated EPC? I have read speculation that it will make many think again and sell up.

In Wales we're aiming for a D rating.

My argument is I don’t think contracts/tenancy agreements should be allowed in the way that they are- with all the benefit to the homeowner and none to the tenant
How ironic you should write this in response to a poster who is not getting their rent paid!

In that instance, the tenant still get all what they signed up for: a property. One they can stay in for months without satisfying their part of the deal.

The landlord on the over hand gets no money and can't get their property back for many months and more often then not, not the money owed.

Yet the contracts benefits the landlord? You have to be joking!

The prices of super yachts are also horrendous, I've seen them in many marinas in the med, the prices should be capped, as on my current wage I'll never be a captain of my own yacht.....

@Whammyyammy that's a ridiculous comparison.

Everyone needs a home. Obviously no one needs a super yacht.

@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry

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.

This 100%…screwed up world we are living in To people who think it is ok my question is…how do people who are renting actually stand a chance of getting onto the property ladder ? My children are all well educated but I cannot see how they will ever save enough money for a deposit on even a one bedroom flat when they are paying £900 rental monthly for the very average accommodation they live in now?

@Amsadandconfused, your children will find their way too. If they make it a priority. They will postpone having a family until they can welcome their child into the world they want to make for him or her. As most people did; there was a very good reason that I did not have a child until I was 42.

The superyacht argument is really an interesting one. A good friend of DS works on super yachts, and so do three of his five siblings.As stewards and engineers. They are all in their late teens and twenties, and they work very hard when the owners are on board to cater to the every whim of the owner, and they have skills. But they are paid offshore, tax free. The eldest has bought a modest house in an unfashionable area for cash; the two younger ones, still in their teenage years will buy modest properties and go to university debt free on the back of a few years work. By which time, they will have a good idea of what they are really interested in doing for the next 10 years.

@XingMing

The superyacht argument is really an interesting one. A good friend of DS works on super yachts, and so do three of his five siblings.As stewards and engineers. They are all in their late teens and twenties, and they work very hard when the owners are on board to cater to the every whim of the owner, and they have skills. But they are paid offshore, tax free. The eldest has bought a modest house in an unfashionable area for cash; the two younger ones, still in their teenage years will buy modest properties and go to university debt free on the back of a few years work. By which time, they will have a good idea of what they are really interested in doing for the next 10 years.

Well it's an interesting story, but I don't think it has anything to do with the super yacht analogy used by @Whammyyammy!

Nobody needs a super yacht, but some people have one, and if we are here down in the poverty level, then some kids might like to see a route up and into something better, if they could earn their way into it.

@XingMing

Nobody needs a super yacht, but some people have one, and if we are here down in the poverty level, then some kids might like to see a route up and into something better, if they could earn their way into it.

I shouldn't digress here but what percentage of the youth population in the U.K. do you think are wandering around marinas looking at multiple super yachts? You surely have to be pretty privileged in order to see them.

Haven't read thread but would happily sell my 2 rental properties (if I could get at least what I paid for them ) as the endless repairs and maintenance service charges void periods and reductions in rent have meant I've barely made any profit. Whole thing has just been a massive headache. We had thought it would be a good way to bolster our pension provision but really not.

Here in Cornwall, the local kids with rowing skills and a bit of nous, regard a few seasons on superyachts as the same as working in fancy hotels but a lot better paid.

[quote XingMing]@Amsadandconfused, your children will find their way too. If they make it a priority. They will postpone having a family until they can welcome their child into the world they want to make for him or her. As most people did; there was a very good reason that I did not have a child until I was 42.[/quote]
So paying £900 plus rent each month will make them capable of saving for a deposit on a flat …really!! How much do you earn ? You are a lot older than my children and they are working their bollocks off just to have a roof over their heads !!

In theory I agree with you, it is very unfair. In practice I'm a hypocrite though as I benefit from such a situation.

In my university days I had socialist leanings but as I've got older and more jaded I've accepted that capitalism is going nowhere in my lifetime so now I'm pretty selfish financially. I grew up in poverty and that doesn't really leave you so I'm greedy now!

@amsadandconfused Can they stay with you while they save up. Thats how DH and I bought a flat in London, we stayed with his mum for 3 years. Esp with remote work, it may be workable to commute long distances a few times a week, maybe book a cheap premier inn if needed. I usually don't advocate moving so faraway from work but I can see how it may work for a few years to achieve such a goal, what I think is a bad idea is buying a house in a faraway location on the assumption that remote work will continue indefinitely as a property is usually a longer investment than the 3 years your child will probably need to save up.

[quote onlychildhamster]@amsadandconfused Can they stay with you while they save up. Thats how DH and I bought a flat in London, we stayed with his mum for 3 years. Esp with remote work, it may be workable to commute long distances a few times a week, maybe book a cheap premier inn if needed. I usually don't advocate moving so faraway from work but I can see how it may work for a few years to achieve such a goal, what I think is a bad idea is buying a house in a faraway location on the assumption that remote work will continue indefinitely as a property is usually a longer investment than the 3 years your child will probably need to save up.[/quote]
Thank you for your lovely reply. My children are always welcome to live here but the two boys are in Bristol and Leeds and really trying to be independent. My daughter is fairly close to us and is also trying to help herself,she has a toddler and is at Uni studying to be a Social Worker . As a family we help each other but cannot imagine my children saving £30-40 for a deposit! The money will be there when we die but hopefully that is not going to be very soon !!

@Fidgetty

In theory I agree with you, it is very unfair. In practice I'm a hypocrite though as I benefit from such a situation.

In my university days I had socialist leanings but as I've got older and more jaded I've accepted that capitalism is going nowhere in my lifetime so now I'm pretty selfish financially. I grew up in poverty and that doesn't really leave you so I'm greedy now!

So do you think about people that were in your situation when you were younger?

I really don’t know the answer that would fix this, but in my mind it would make sense for something like homeowners being responsible for at least 50% of their properties costs. The renter to pay the remainder 50% for fees for using the property. At least it would seem a little more fair and be a deterrent to multi-home BTL landlords using property as investment with no understanding/ lack of empathy towards the tenants being exploited.

@HereLiveIAmNotACat I'm a bit confused by the above, is this what you're suggesting?

The landlord purchases a property with a mortgage that they're responsible for paying, say £1000 a month.

The landlord is responsible for paying £500, the tenant £500, no immediate profit made. The landlord pays for repairs? If interest rates increase and the mortgage repayments go up, they both have to pay more?

At the end of the tenancy, the landlord still owns the property and could sell for a profit if they wish. What happens if the mortgage is completely paid off and they still want to let it, would they calculate the costs based on the current value?

I can see how that would discourage landlords from buying multiple properties and there'd more houses available for sale at lower prices. I doubt many landlords would bother, tbh, so there'd be little rental stock.

@amsadandconfused the old system of moving out at 18, living in flatshares until you saved up enough for a starter 2 bed terrace is dead. Its not quite dead outside London but it will be dead in a few years with the 8-10% price rises year on year in places like Yorkshire. As far as I know, wages in those areas are not increasing at the same rate!

You have 3 options:

1. Inheritance/gift from parents
2. Living with parents for a few years
3. Earning a lot of money

I have a friend who is buying her house after renting but she is the only one i know and she is a Cambridge educated lawyer (and has a partner who works as a IT developer). But even so, her budget is the same as mine- £420k so she managed to get a small house in zone 6 london. This is below the average price that first time buyers pay in London. Plus I don't even know for sure she didn't get some help whether froom her parents or her partner's parents. The rest of the people I know all got help from parents.

Everyone has choices. Your children pay £900 out of CHOICE, they want to live in that area. No one is forcing them. If they move outside of the capital, prices are lower. You have to make sacrifice to get on the property ladder.

The market is hot and will get hotter, why? Because it’s cheap to borrow and there are so many products.

Viewed a 2 bed today as an investment and 25 people booked in to view it, 8 offers for the vendor.

Who decides to sell? The vendor. He or she can sell to whoever they want to. Landlord or not. Doesn’t matter as money is money.

Some ways you can save money :

Ditch your iPhone and expensive coffees and nails and whatever other junk. Save money you are given. Live with parents, cut the credit and focus on raising your first 1,000. Then it will snowball.

I agree but can’t ever see it happening. Perhaps they should increase CGT to put people off.

@S2617 I don't think @amsadandconfused kids live anywhere near the capital. I live in the capital, I moved in with DH's mum who had the foresight to buy a house for 100k in 1997 and was kind enough to share her home with me. when I was 5 years old, I didn't know it yet but a woman in London buying a terraced house in north london was going to help me buy my London flat. in 2019 ( a good 22 years later!) i didn't know what a mortgage was at the tender age of 5 but my path was set from that moment in 1997. I guess me choosing a London bred DH also helped with that too.

P.S. I have never owned a iphone but i think having the property owning MIL played a bigger part than any bejewelled iphone.

So do you think about people that were in your situation when you were younger?

I expected someone to ask that! Yes I do - hence why I said I agree with the OP that's it's unfair, but my desire for financial security for me (and particularly for my DC) trumps the situation of strangers. As I said I admit to being selfish here. I don't see the system changing and so I'm making the most of my situation so my children will be in a favourable position.

I can totally understand why you would want to benefit from the situation. Why would you not when everyone else does? Of course you will take money you’re legally allowed to for your children. But as you say it doesn’t make it fair.

That’s why I think it just shouldn’t be allowed to start with as unfortunately the consequence is people are suffering directly from the gainings of others.

The blame is on the government. For multiple reasons including selling off council houses- ironically mainly to people who have been lucky enough to be housed cheaply and not thrown into the lions den of private rentals..but that’s a whole other topic!

There are many things in life that are unfair but this issue particularly niggles knowing the injustices could be evened out if people just cared enough.