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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think rent is so bloody unfair

999 replies

Tar19891 · 02/04/2022 20:43

My rent is 800 per month. A mortgage on the same value flat would be 450 per month. Not in London obviously. It’s not fair is it?

OP posts:
rugbunch · 02/04/2022 22:49

Life isn't fair!!

It should be fairer though. I want to live in a more equal society, not somewhere where your prospects depend largely on whether your parents own a home & if they can help you buy one.

SwanBuster · 02/04/2022 22:49

It should be abundantly clear. The government - whichever coloured ties they wear - and existing asset holders do not give a fuck*. They will happily siphon every penny they can (‘t print 😉) to support their rentier economy.

  • full disclosure - I own a lot of assets and am utterly disgusted at how things work.
Booboobibles · 02/04/2022 22:49

A landlord has a buy to let mortgage. So let’s say rent is £1100 a month the landlord will pay £350 mortgage, £100 agency fees and will keep the remainder.

There seems to be this belief that landlords are always having to pay for repairs. Firstly this isn’t true, and secondly it just comes out of totally passive income so they’ll just make a bit less. Occasionally there will be a big expense such as replacing the boiler so there may not be any income for a few months.

I’ve been both a landlord and a tenant at the same time. I used my rental income to pay for my own rent because it’s far easier to get a buy to let mortgage than a normal mortgage. I know for a fact that being a landlord is very very easy money and being a tenant is awful, from the humiliation of virtually having to beg to rent a home, through the nagging insecurity of not knowing when you’re going to have to leave, to the awful moving out process.

caringcarer · 02/04/2022 22:51

@jobseeket19, I have 7 btl properties, also work full time as a foster carer to a child with additional needs and pay tax and insurance as well as house insurance on all the btl's. I know at least 8 other LL who also pay tax and insurance. My DH pays higher rate tax and insurance as a result of having the btl properties. Why do you think LL's don't pay insurance?

Booboobibles · 02/04/2022 22:51

But it was either than or lose all my money.

LardyDee · 02/04/2022 22:51

Indeed. I also didn't even mean to say I care if the bill was covered or not by revenue raised. That's what the poster took from it entirely disingenuously - because I was replying to their and another posters statement that my assertion that tax revenues would be peanuts wasn't backed numerically.

It was my assertion. I'm still not really clear how you are judging quantatively what is "peanuts".

It is still public money funnelled to landlords whether theres a shortfall or not.
And it is used to provide housing services! Which are (we have established, if nothing else) fucking expensive!Grin

rugbunch · 02/04/2022 22:52

The landlords on this thread really aren’t doing themselves any favours.

But remember they are just saving people from the streets & barely make any money 🙄

Popsicle33 · 02/04/2022 22:53

It's tough luck. Owning a property is expensive! Private landlords are not charities.

nosafeguardingadults · 02/04/2022 22:53

@TizerorFizz

I don’t have people on benefits in my property. I think many won’t.
Thank you for your honesty. People victim blame domestic violence victims saying why didn't she leave.

This is why domestic violence murders happen. Victims can't leave cos no safe homes. Lives destroyed, murders, suicides, and victims shut out of life, looking at houses and flats not allowed to live in. Only dangerous slum landlords take benefits so victims shut out and trapped with abuse or homeless.

SwanBuster · 02/04/2022 22:54

Today I gift aided a huge sum of money just to keep it out of the exchequers hands. They don’t care. Our governments worldwide are either wasteful at best, insane with the benefit of the doubt, corrupt most likely and psychopathic at worst.

I recommend others to do similar. Just give the money away to charities rather than letting them decide how to waste it.

TargusEasting · 02/04/2022 22:55

A significant proportion of landlords are not interested in the fabric of the property and their tenants.

They are interested only in the mortgage debt. Paying that off is their only concern. The capital appreciation inherent in the site, foundations and walls, is important. The soft interior is where it gets expensive, but lawmakers are not tackling that.

There are 650 MPs in The House of Commons and every one of them owns a second home.

BMWqueen · 02/04/2022 22:55

My mum loves next door both houses worth 80k
for renting for so long we can buy them for 40k

My mum got a mirage I didn’t… my rents still £450 per month her mortgage is £250 per month :( I need to buy this house

Tumbleweed101 · 02/04/2022 22:55

I rent a council property. The same 3 bed property in private rental or even a mortgage wouldn't be possible on my income as a single parent.

The level of my rent means I can pay without housing benefit. Private rent would cost me and tax payers a fortune as I would need help. Basically benefits would be paid to someone who owns an asset so I could house my family.

The only way around this is to make wages and cost of living match.

Knickerthief1 · 02/04/2022 22:55

I am a landlord. We borrowed on our existing mortgage to cover the deposit. We pay the extra mortgage on that loan out of our own money. The mortgage (20 years) is £612 a month. We charge £575 month rent. I add to the account to cover the extra mortgage payment plus insurance, tax and all repairs. We recently had a repair costing £3,000 and covered that with a loan that we will pay. You may ask why bother but we are terrible at saving and this way we will have an asset in a few years time that will be bigger than the asset we would have if we put the money in an account. There's unlikely to be much asset growth - there hasn't been any in the last 8 years. I could realistically raise the rent by £75 a month for our area (low cost area) but we have great tenants and I want to be fair. Although landlords are hated I do feel like we're providing a home and being fair. I work in social housing too. There isn't enough. Finding suitable land to build and covering the costs at the prescribed rent levels is becoming increasingly impossible.

refraction · 02/04/2022 22:55

Totally agree. It's shelter. I hate landlords. So many better ways housing could be done.

Lalliella · 02/04/2022 22:56

I agree OP, it’s completely unfair. Just yet another example of our extremely unequal society. Rich landlords taking advantage of housing shortage to make a fortune out of poor tenants who can’t get a mortgage, despite said mortgage being cheaper than rent. Rich landlords causing property prices to increase by snapping up multiple properties, making housing even more unaffordable. It’s really wrong. That’s capitalism for you I’m afraid.

Blossomtoes · 02/04/2022 22:56

@Popsicle33

It's tough luck. Owning a property is expensive! Private landlords are not charities.
No, it appears that tenants are, though. A landlord gets their mortgage paid for them and then also gets the capital growth.
SwanBuster · 02/04/2022 22:56

@LardyDee

Indeed. I also didn't even mean to say I care if the bill was covered or not by revenue raised. That's what the poster took from it entirely disingenuously - because I was replying to their and another posters statement that my assertion that tax revenues would be peanuts wasn't backed numerically.

It was my assertion. I'm still not really clear how you are judging quantatively what is "peanuts".

It is still public money funnelled to landlords whether theres a shortfall or not.
And it is used to provide housing services! Which are (we have established, if nothing else) fucking expensive!Grin

2 or 7 billion is peanuts. That is quantitative- especially when you are given the very relevant figure of 22 bn dished out in benefit. Or are you deliberately being obtuse? It’s dwarfed by other revenues. And you still defend it!
TeaMilkAnd2Sugars · 02/04/2022 22:57

YANBU

I pay 1000pcm for a shitty little flat in London, nowhere near the size I actually need. The problem is all my money goes into paying the rent so I can't even afford to save to move.

My friend has a 2 bed flat locally, housing association, her rent is 500pcm.

Private landlords are greedy fuckers.

nosafeguardingadults · 02/04/2022 22:58

@Popsicle33

It's tough luck. Owning a property is expensive! Private landlords are not charities.
Lots of people got trapped in private renting and bad things like domestic violence cos landlords bought lots of the housing made it more expensive to get on ladder.
Blossomtoes · 02/04/2022 22:59

There are 650 MPs in The House of Commons and every one of them owns a second home

Do you have some proof of that? Because I’m pretty sure it’s not true.

Crazycrazylady · 02/04/2022 22:59

Honestly I'm so over this whole landlord hating business.
We have a second property and became landlords when we needed more space but couldn't sell because our starter home was in negative equity. We rent it 4 20 something friends and they pay 1200 per month. Our mortgage is 800 per month and on top of that we pay 40% tax on the capital income, pay for insurance, repairs etc . We've taken the view that while we don't make money on it now. In 20 years when mortgage is paid off it will act as our pension.
I don't agree that this makes us greedy. For loads of people renting is a preference for loads of reason and they need rental properties too.

WonderfulYou · 02/04/2022 23:01

YANBU
Private renting is an absolute joke and something needs to be done about it.

If landlords didn’t make such a big profit they simply wouldn’t do it, so all of the posters trying to justify the huge costs are very embarrassing.

I can guarantee that every poster who disagrees that private rent is way higher than mortgages all own their own homes and many will be LL too.

You only have to look at the social housing crisis to realise we have a big problem. Of course holiday homes are an issue too.

Feckaffoutofit · 02/04/2022 23:01

Of course it isn't fair. Basically you buy the landlord a house. I have no idea why a landlord would think it reasonable to have someone else cover the entire mortgage nevermind also pay for the upkeep of their investment. Greedy fuckers.

wishmyhousetidy · 02/04/2022 23:02

@SwanBuster

It should be abundantly clear. The government - whichever coloured ties they wear - and existing asset holders do not give a fuck*. They will happily siphon every penny they can (‘t print 😉) to support their rentier economy.
  • full disclosure - I own a lot of assets and am utterly disgusted at how things work.
This s very true. The housing market is propped up at every turn to protect house owners which means the prices just rise and rise away from people who are stuck renting And yes some people are being ridiculously obtuse on this post saying ‘well buy a. house if you hate renting’. I own a flat I am lucky but people saying look at all the costs you have as a homeowner are being disingenuous as no one once they have brought would voluntarily go back to renting. The house market in this country is ridiculous