Housing crisis

[lollipoprainbow]

Aibu to feel really angry about the housing situation in this country ?? I think it's terrible that tenants that privately rent only get 2 months to find somewhere else to live once issued with a section 21 surely in the current climate of a rental shortage it should be six months ?? I think it's awful that people can't get mortgages despite paying the same or less in rent each month. I think it's disgusting that 'affordable housing' is anything but for the normal low wage earning person. There is zero help for people working on a low wage. Sorry but I just need to vent, I want to complain but don't know who to !!

You’re making the classic assumption that every voter over a certain age votes Tory and always has.

Where on earth have I assumed that? statistically I would say data suggests more older people vote Tory/Brexit not all & obviously since the median age is 40 that's a significant chunk.

Do you think no blame lies with voters?

I get very angry when I get blamed for a bloody awful situation that is nothing to do with me and which I’d change in a heartbeat if I could.

So you get angry at being blamed for the "awful situation" but not those who voted for it? 😆

@fogglez

I get very angry when I get blamed for a bloody awful situation that is nothing to do with me and which I’d change in a heartbeat if I could.

So you get angry at being blamed for the "awful situation" but not those who voted for it? 😆

Given that most of the voters who voted for Thatcher who kicked this off with right to buy are now dead, it’s a fat lot of good getting angry with them.

At the end of the day, nobody voted for a housing crisis, they voted for governments whose cumulative actions have contributed to it. I blame politicians because only they have the power to change it, however many silly little laughing faces you post.

@Fordian

At the end of the day; we have to accept that we're 'okay' with all of this. We vote Tory; we gave a collective yawn to proportional representation.

We voted for Brexit.

We're okay with the status quo.

Yes, many, as demonstrated on here, are outraged; but enough don't care about, or gave no mind to - where this leaves them.

Look after you and yours as best you can. We are in a situation where you cannot care about- or do anything about- those who passively accept, even actively vote against their own best interests.

Look after your own.

*We voted for Brexit.

We're okay with the status quo.*

Eh? The 'status quo' would have been to remain. People voted for change.

Also, the one of the main arguments of the remain campaign was that house prices would plummet if we voted for Brexit.

Given that most of the voters who voted for Thatcher who kicked this off with right to buy are now dead, it’s a fat lot of good getting angry with them

That's your choice & your opinion. i'm not happy about Brexit & those voters I would argue are still alive.

At the end of the day, nobody voted for a housing crisis, they voted for governments whose cumulative actions have contributed to it*

So we agree then, great!

I blame politicians because only they have the power to change it, however many silly little laughing faces you post.

You're completely entitled to your opinion, I just disagree that policies are not designed to be attractive to voters.

Sorry for hitting a nerve! 😆😆😆

The big problem is low interest rates. What do you do with your savings?
People buy property as an investment.

They’re getting rid of no fault evictions. I’m selling my rental property at the moment and this is one reason. A chain of tenants causing enough damage that I lose 6 months rent every time one goes is another.

@Polyanthus2

The big problem is low interest rates. What do you do with your savings? People buy property as an investment.

But if interest rates go up mortgages become even more unaffordable so the problem gets worse. The only real solution is punitive taxation of all property that isn’t owner occupied.

The problem is deposits. I spent last night entering details into the mortgage calculators for various banks. I tried different combinations of deposit and credit card/loans. In short, I could borrow more if I had a higher deposit regardless of income and also if I had credit card/loans to pay back.

If I just had same income, no cc or loans but a smaller deposit, I could only borrow a smaller amount. This makes me think people are getting loans put to bump up their deposit as it doesn’t adversely affect the overall amount they can borrow.

The problem as I see it is when interest rates are established as rising and there are few transferable options.

For example my rent is £800 a month for a studio. I could borrow 180,000 with a 15% deposit or even with the government mortgage scheme. Mortgage repayments would be £760-£780 a month at present (although there were 2 and 5 yr fixes so in theory, less than my rent but what happens when they go up, not just 1/2% but further?

Hope that makes sense. I was most surprised that monthly commitments to cc or loans made little difference.

At this is what people fail to grasp. We need a high productivity economy with higher wages. Not more reliance on welfare and subsidies because people are not being paid well. The default position on everything has become to call for more handouts, rather than insisting on a structural fix to the culture of low pay.

@sst1234

I agree that wages are too low, but this is irrelevant to the housing crisis. If wages were higher then houses would be even more expensive. It wouldn't enable the lower earners to own a home.

The problem is inequality, which allow some to own multiple homes, while others own none. Main drivers of inequality are things like inheritance, and money being passed from one generation to the next. High house prices mean that wealth acculturates for each generation as grandparents, parents etc die.

Also, most houses are under occupied. The Ukraine crisis has shown how many people live in houses with spare rooms. A hundred years ago, a two up, two down would have housed a family of six. People have a lot more 'stuff' to house these days, and there's been a huge shift in expectations regarding housing.

.

Many landlords selling up because of extra restrictive laws.
We would have sold and bought another two but extra Stamp Duty spoils the deal.
Lloyds Bank building homes to let by the hundred it pays for them, different tax structure.

Remember in the early 00s there were meant to be houses for key workers - what an earth happened to this, did it ever happen?

The UK should be like Germany where you can rent for life if you want to. They have a much better set up.
My DS and DiL had no chance of buying their own home so we bought one together, most of the cash coming from me and split it in two. I have the ground floor and they have the upper two floors.
It works for us. It probably wouldn't work if I still had a husband but as it is I'm at work all day and there is always someone to look after the pets if they or I go away for the weekend.
I think multigenerational living and having less children is probably the only way forward.
We couldn't have done this if I'd had more than one child.

@James44 this is the big worry, so if landlords are selling up how the hell are people supposed to rent ?!

@woodhill I remember, seems to have disappeared surprise surprise. I work in the NHS and there is nothing like that anymore.

Makes me furious that so much council housing as sold off and it has been so easy for people to buy second homes then charge extortionate rent. I was speaking to a friend yesterday whose relative is paying £1800 a month, most of it from benefits so tax payers are paying for that whilst someone else gets rich on the back of it. It's appalling that it has been allowed to get this bad. Waiting lists for HA/ council housing can take years, people stuck in emergency accomodation for years or at the mercy of landlords and no stability. The cost to society is huge, it just baffles me as to why councils wouldn't provide more affordable stable housing rather than the goverment subsidizing huge rents??

I am a landlord, people go into it for a variety of reasons & we are not all horrible people.
I have just had to evict a tenant Section 21, took 7 months costs between £1-2k, just an example front door kicked in weekly as keys misplaced while drunk/drugged up - tenant spent 2 years terrorising every other occupant in the flats - a section 8 would have taken 1-2 years & cost a lot more.
I needed monthly income to support my young children when I was widowed at 40 & I work really hard at my job, as a landlord & as a parent. I went without, to get on the housing ladder & when my husband died I had a good credit score so was able to purchase a property & use the income to support my children rather than live off the state.

@MidnightMeltdown

At this is what people fail to grasp. We need a high productivity economy with higher wages. Not more reliance on welfare and subsidies because people are not being paid well. The default position on everything has become to call for more handouts, rather than insisting on a structural fix to the culture of low pay.

@sst1234

I agree that wages are too low, but this is irrelevant to the housing crisis. If wages were higher then houses would be even more expensive. It wouldn't enable the lower earners to own a home.

The problem is inequality, which allow some to own multiple homes, while others own none. Main drivers of inequality are things like inheritance, and money being passed from one generation to the next. High house prices mean that wealth acculturates for each generation as grandparents, parents etc die.

Also, most houses are under occupied. The Ukraine crisis has shown how many people live in houses with spare rooms. A hundred years ago, a two up, two down would have housed a family of six. People have a lot more 'stuff' to house these days, and there's been a huge shift in expectations regarding housing.

Agree that we need to hike more. People owning more than one property isn’t the reason for the shortage itself. As someone else upthread said, buy to let homes are still homes where people live. Tenure isn’t the same thing as demand/supply. Also 6 people in a 2 up 2 down is overcrowding, and not something to aspire to. In short, we need this low wage welfare dependency to stop and to build more homes for private ownership.

People owning more than one property isn’t the reason for the shortage itself.

It’s not the only reason. It’s definitely one of them.

As someone else upthread said, buy to let homes are still homes where people live

They’re also vehicles for the wealthy to accumulate more wealth at the expense of the less well off and the taxpayer.

In short, we need this low wage welfare dependency to stop and to build more homes for private ownership

We certainly need a society of fair reward for hard work and we need a lot more social housing, that would naturally create more homes for private ownership as the need for private rentals would dry up.

@UggyPow
Why would a section 8 take 1-2 years
My neighbour was evicted recently by the council using a section 8

Although he had been convicted in crown court of ASB and couldn’t return to the property . So the council had all the evidence needed I suppose .

It didn’t take the council long to evict him under a section 8 using ASB

If they get rid of the section 21 notice, many landlords will sell their buy to let properties and there will be even less flats and houses to rent so rents will go up. The problem we have is not enough houses are being built especially not enough council housing. The current system forces house builders to build some flats and houses for larger developments. Fine but the amount is not fixed so every time it is a horse trade with the developer paying thousands on professionals claiming how they can't afford to build the affordable flats, it's a farce. What we need is a fixed non negotiable percentage of housing to be affordable, say 30%. But this is not enough we also need the government to pay for social housing.

@Babyroobs I'm baffled too. Why is nothing being addressed to sort out the housing crisis?? Why are councils putting people in temporary accommodation when it would be better to have social housing, nothing seems to be being done about it!!

@UggyPow my Landlord has been wonderful for 9 years, he was so good it put me off moving on a few years ago as I was worried we wouldn't get a better one. I'm gutted he's selling up.

I’m a landlord that would be in favour of a complete overhaul of our country’s rental system.

It surely wouldn’t be that difficult to have a system where tenants rights to live in a decent quality property with long term security if they want it are enforced, while at the same time holding them financially responsible for any damage they cause to the property or upset they cause to neighbours.