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AIBU?

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Original poster

There should be an upper limit on rental prices

479 replies

HereLiveIAmNotACat · 28/11/2021 21:34

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)

OP posts:
Snoozer11 · 29/11/2021 00:37

@GreenLunchBox

I'm pretty sure the landlord haters are talking about South Eastern landlords. Most Northern landlords are not rolling around in fifty pound notes
They've got more than enough
crowsfeet57 · 29/11/2021 00:38

So if the owner can only charge a token amount over the mortgage costs, who pays for repairs and maintenance?

What happen if extensive repairs are needed like a new roof or boiler.? Who pays for that?

One of the benefits of renting is that the tenant doesn't need to worry about that.

Phoenix76 · 29/11/2021 00:55

@crowsfeet57

So if the owner can only charge a token amount over the mortgage costs, who pays for repairs and maintenance?

What happen if extensive repairs are needed like a new roof or boiler.? Who pays for that?

One of the benefits of renting is that the tenant doesn't need to worry about that.

100% this.

I’m “on duty” 7 days a week, 365 days a year. If there’s a problem I have to fix and pay for it. In my case (believe me I know that there are rogue landlords out there), I’m not making a massive profit (I’m probably a naive, soft touch LL) but I had to pay £3k for a new boiler, one time their key broke in the lock on a Sunday- nearly £200!. It’s not for the faint hearted I can tell you that!

GreenLunchBox · 29/11/2021 01:05

I’m “on duty” 7 days a week, 365 days a year. If there’s a problem I have to fix and pay for it. In my case (believe me I know that there are rogue landlords out there), I’m not making a massive profit (I’m probably a naive, soft touch LL) but I had to pay £3k for a new boiler, one time their key broke in the lock on a Sunday- nearly £200!. It’s not for the faint hearted I can tell you that!

Exactly!
My tenants broke their key in the lock at midnight once. Called me and I had to sort it out then and there as they couldn't get in. Ended up getting an emergency locksmith for ££

The rent they pay is a trade off for not having to worry about or pay for things like this

MysteriousSoup · 29/11/2021 01:08

Not this old chestnut again OP Hmm

stinkycheeseman · 29/11/2021 01:15

Totally not wrong, but we got this government and this is how we live now. The gap between rich and poor is getting bigger as the rich asset strip the entire uk. Suck it up dude, your minimum wage, your zero hour contract and your shit flavoured water. Just like the rest of us are. 🤷‍♀️

caringcarer · 29/11/2021 01:16
  1. Most btl LL have an interest only mortgage so you are not paying off the LL mortgage OP.
  2. Are you suggesting if a LL has no mortgage on the property they let it out for peanuts?
  3. You are renting out the property, just like you might lease a car. Do you suggest a limit on car leases too?
  4. What about cap holiday prices too? You are bitter but have not thought it through properly.
  5. Nothing to stop you saving up deposit and buying your own house. No one is forcing you to rent from LL.
GreenLunchBox · 29/11/2021 01:23

@stinkycheeseman

Totally not wrong, but we got this government and this is how we live now. The gap between rich and poor is getting bigger as the rich asset strip the entire uk. Suck it up dude, your minimum wage, your zero hour contract and your shit flavoured water. Just like the rest of us are. 🤷‍♀️
So true!
GreenLunchBox · 29/11/2021 01:24

@caringcarer

1. Most btl LL have an interest only mortgage so you are not paying off the LL mortgage OP.
  1. Are you suggesting if a LL has no mortgage on the property they let it out for peanuts?
  2. You are renting out the property, just like you might lease a car. Do you suggest a limit on car leases too?
  3. What about cap holiday prices too? You are bitter but have not thought it through properly.
  4. Nothing to stop you saving up deposit and buying your own house. No one is forcing you to rent from LL.
5. Nothing to stop you saving up deposit and buying your own house. No one is forcing you to rent from LL.

Exactly!

Vote with your feet.

TinselTitsAndGlitteryBits · 29/11/2021 04:56

I think it would be hard to put a cap on rental prices.

I would impose huge taxes on each additional property a Landlord tries to buy though - make it as unaffordable as possible so they don't go around snapping up the lower priced family homes.

TinselTitsAndGlitteryBits · 29/11/2021 05:04

Posted too soon.

You'll not get a favourable, unbiased debate here though since a lot of MNers are either landlords (and paint themselves as martyrs who don't get anything out of the process) or staunch LL advocates. It's strange.

People need homes. The fact that LLs tend to have the resources to buy more than one property (especially the lower-cost homes), then price that property as they want doesn't take into consideration that people need homes.

I find it hugely unethical.

I own my home, I saved up as a single person for many, many years and had no help whatsoever from family.
I was only able to do so because I moved to the NW - not everyone can or wants to do that.

TinselTitsAndGlitteryBits · 29/11/2021 05:15

@caringcarer point 5 is really privileged of you to say.

Not everyone;
a) Has the resources to save up for a deposit
b) Would be accepted by the bank for a mortgage
c) Lives in/can relocate to an area that has attainable house prices.

The costs of renting (by necessity) tends to negate the ability to save for a deposit.

By rough calculations, you need to be on £36k gross a year to afford at £1200pcm property - leaving you with £1145 once paid. By the time you've paid bills/food/transport/childcare... you're not left with a meaningful amount to save.
That's with a decent job too.

DramaLlllama · 29/11/2021 05:51

Errr…Its not always as lucrative as your think. I had to rent out my house for a period of time (was on a fixed term mortgage which had a hefty penalty when I met my now DH and moved in with him). It used to cost me £250 a month ON TOP of the rent I received to pay the mortgage and insurances for the house. Every month was a financial loss. Hates every moment of being a landlord.

Cheerychirpy · 29/11/2021 06:00

Rents have risen as landlords have sold up due to a tax rise on landlord profits 5 or so years ago. This tax rise was considered a popular move by renters at the time - punish the greedy landlords, they’ll be more properties on the market for first time buyers - but economics is rarely as simple as people think. If a cap on rents is introduced, do you think this will increase or reduce the chances of being able to find a property to rent?

Testingprof · 29/11/2021 06:08

@GreenLunchBox

Some people rely on rental income as their main income. Some people use BTL as an alternative to pensions because they don't have one. It's a legitimate source of income so while I get that people are upset rent is a massive outgoing for them I don't know what the answer is. Some people are just trying to make a living!
The issue with this is that for some people they have a deposit and are paying over what they would for a mortgage renting but mortgage companies won’t give them a mortgage as the multiples are wrong. That system is ridiculous if a person can sustain a rent of over 2.5x what the mortgage rate is now for several years then mortgage companies shouldn’t be allowed to refuse the ability. Otherwise they are forced to continue to pay someone else’s when they absolutely can afford their own mortgage as evidenced by their past behaviour. For years self employed people were allowed to fudge it so they showed their income while giving the tax department their profits so could get disproportionally higher mortgages and now the younger generation are being punished after a lot of those who are 40s and above benefitted from 105% mortgages that were floating around for too long.
Tabitha005 · 29/11/2021 06:11

Housing should never be for profit, in my view - ever.

A friend is currently fighting her landlord who wants to increase the rent by 13% - without having done anything to rectify the fact the property is uninsulated and therefore unheatable to anything above 12 degrees. I strongly suspect the EPC has been rigged to 'pass' the property on a minimum rating. Landlords like this provide nothing in the way of value or responsibility to their tenants and need stamping out.... but, of course, when they're enabled by unscrupulous letting agents who, similarly, couldn't give a fuck, they're afforded a certain level of protection.

Ylvamoon · 29/11/2021 06:16

It's supply and demand. As long as someone pays X-sky-high amount for a 3 bed property in a big city, landlords will charge charge it. They be stupid not to.
Utopia is a long way off.

colourfulpuddles · 29/11/2021 06:17

YABU. It’s their property - they can charge what they like. If it’s too high, nobody will pay it.

Why should they have to put a cap on just because not everyone can own their own home? That’s not their problem.

Catfog · 29/11/2021 06:20

@GreenLunchBox

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?
If they don't rent it out it seems unlikely they will just keep an empty property, so perhaps they'd sell it. If enough people did this, more stock in the system would help lower prices a bit. I don't agree with the level of bashing landlords sometimes get on here, but they're also not renting out their asset for the kindness of their heart are they.
Catfog · 29/11/2021 06:22

@colourfulpuddles

YABU. It’s their property - they can charge what they like. If it’s too high, nobody will pay it.

Why should they have to put a cap on just because not everyone can own their own home? That’s not their problem.

Because spiralling rental costs mean some don't have enough money left for food or other essentials, and paying high rent makes it less likely you'll be able to save towards a deposit and escape the rental trap (renting is a good option if rent is fair and landlords actually keep maintenance up, which isn't always the case but people need somewhere to live).
Tumbleweed101 · 29/11/2021 06:25

We all pay for the high rent through our taxes as so many need housing benefit to pay them. Private rent on a family size property in my area cost more than I even earn per month. My friends mortgages are less than half of the rental costs locally. Fortunately I have a council property so don’t need housing benefit - because the rent is realistic. I did my time privately renting though and it completely depleted any saving I had because of deposits and having to move when you got told to etc.

Catfog · 29/11/2021 06:25

5. Nothing to stop you saving up deposit and buying your own house. No one is forcing you to rent from LL.

Ironically high private rents stop many people saving towards a deposit, rental properties are often more a month than a mortgage would be, saving for the deposit is the kicker.

Thatldo · 29/11/2021 06:28

You are right and I agree whole heartedly with you.The selfishness of people in this country is unbelievable.In Switzerland for instance( a country with high living standart),rent increase is regulated by the state(yes you read correctly,by the state).increase is only allowed in accordance with inflation.This is why you have very happy renting people in Switzerland.the flats/houses for rent are in tio top condition.People dont look at their property as an investment,it is a home.this country has a truely fucked up housing situation.The house of cards will tumble at some point though.

lupad · 29/11/2021 06:33

@TinselTitsAndGlitteryBits I agree, I find it weird how pro BTL MN is. I agree it's unethical, it's not a good thing for society & for many people they are locked out of home ownership simply because they were born at the wrong time or don't have family that can help.

We are selling & I was looking at renting for a bit as there isn't much I like on the market but the prices are ridiculous, double my mortgage. I'm lucky that I can move in with family so I have choices others don't have.

lupad · 29/11/2021 06:36

Nothing to stop you saving up deposit and buying your own house. No one is forcing you to rent from LL.

If I hadn't had family help with a deposit then by the time I saved up myself I would have been priced out of the market.