To think rent is so bloody unfair

[Tar19891]

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?

You know what @Silverswirl? I reckon you and I are about the same age and I’m embarrassed by you. It’s people like you who come out with shit like this that give my generation a bad name.

@Silverswirl you didn't even address my points just waffled about how life was tough in the past & consumerism. 👍🏼

@Blossomtoes

The entire point so many of us are making *@Cameleongirl*, is that providing homes shouldn’t be a business. There are plenty of ways to invest your money with a decent return without being a landlord, most of them a lot less hassle by the sound of it. It’s pure greed.

Most of us are happy to judge these transactions as moral if they are legal. Some of us have different standards though, a bit like veganism. But as long as my investments are legal I don't lose sleep. Hats off to those selfless people who act more ethically.

Hats off to those selfless people who act more ethically.

I don't think it's even about being selfless. You could argue it's selfish of me to want a more equal less divided society, it's certainly safer for me & my dc.

@rugbunch

Hats off to those selfless people who act more ethically.

I don't think it's even about being selfless. You could argue it's selfish of me to want a more equal less divided society, it's certainly safer for me & my dc.

It’s not about being selfless. A landlord posted who says her yield is 3%. I’m getting a better yield from my shares without profiting from people who can’t afford to buy a home.

and that

@Blossomtoes

You know what *@Silverswirl*? I reckon you and I are about the same age and I’m embarrassed by you. It’s people like you who come out with shit like this that give my generation a bad name.

That’s fine- you don’t know what age I am really and no need to be embarrassed as every word I’ve said is true. Many people think the same even if they don’t say it out loud. Yes it’s a struggle for many and lots have been fortunate enough to have help in some way. That doesn’t mean that if you haven’t had help you whine on about ‘oh it’s so unfair, someone give me something for free please’ What really pisses me off if some people have worked bloody hard for what they have got despite the odds and have sacrificed so much. Yet others bleat on about it’s so unfair. I’m not taking about rich overseas people. I’m talking about working people here in the Uk who have managed to claw themselves up to earning a meagre house - or maybe their parents sacrificed happiness in order to pass down some money enough for a small deposit. Then you get bashed on here for doing that. Tell you what. Fuck off. Everything I’ve got I’ve earned from a shit background and no/ very little help. If I am lucky enough to one day be able to buy another very small flat to rent out then I will do. And charge the going rate.

Itsbackagain

Jobseeker19
I have yet to meet a landlord who pays insurance.
Let me introduce myself then. I pay insurance and I pay even more in case of loss of rent and court fees. I do all the legal things I'm meant to do - gas, electric, legionella etc..I pay to be registered as a landlord. I pay an accountant to do my tax. I pay contractors for proper inspections - roof, drains, fencing etc.

No, you don't pay for that. Your tenant does. Don't pretend you don't make any profit, otherwise you wouldn't be a landlord.

@rugbunch

Hats off to those selfless people who act more ethically.

I don't think it's even about being selfless. You could argue it's selfish of me to want a more equal less divided society, it's certainly safer for me & my dc.

Yes, exactly.

Increasing wealth inequalities fuel other inequalities and ever more division within society.

I don't feel selfless for believing that wealth should be more equally distributed via taxes and public spending so that, in 2022, having enough to eat, a decent, stable roof over your head and hope for the future is accessible to everyone.

Living in society where a quality of life is available to all would be better for me and my children, so yes I'm selfish in that regard too.

When my parents were kids, other children literally had no shoes to come to school in. This wasn’t just a small minority. They had to be given school plimsoles.
My mother had a tin bath hanging on the wall that the whole family used one lot of bath water for a bath in the kitchen once a week. No indoor bathroom.
My mum also shared housing with other families. Might be their own family ie cousins or maybe not. Many of her friends didn’t own their own homes or if they did they were packed out with occupants and no indoor bathroom.
Clothes were stitched up and handed down. Hardly ever bought new.
Food was very simple.
There were no day trips except once a year to the beach. Weekends were spent in the house or visiting friends or family.
Some of those things are good: hand-me-down clothes and repairs instead of today’s consumerist fast fashion contributing to the climate crisis.

A lot of those things are bloody awful and we SHOULD all want better for this generation and future generations than kids without shoes and no indoor bathroom. It’s like all the energy crisis threads with people saying “Ooh, in my day, we scraped ice off the windows and wore a bobble hat to bed” as if that were a good thing and not fucking Dickensian.

Do people need the random consumerist tat that’s available, like “edible table glitter” and “polystyrene Christmas robin decoration” (both my MIL’s recent purchases)? No, clearly. But aspiring to more than bloody frozen deprivation and toothless, shoeless misery in a hut isn’t a capitalist wet dream, it’s just aspiring to basic standards of living and we should all be aspiring to lift up all in society instead of reminiscing about the shit old days.

So why is it morally wrong to make a profit from providing housing but not wrong for making a profit out of all the other things people need to live: food, water, energy? It doesnt make sense.

What does make sense is regulation to balance the needs of both tenant and landlord, and to protect the interests of both. And proper enforcement of existing legislation.

The landlords on this thread seem to be bending over backwards to convince everyone how hard they've got it.

Have you thought about selling your BTLs? I'm sure a first time buyer would love to take it off your hands. That's if they've managed to save anything while they've paid off someone else's mortgage for years.

£800 less landlords insurance, ground rent, service charges as it's a flat, repairs, tax, mortgage interest - I imagine the landlord doesn't have much left

[quote Tar19891]@Chestofdraws I pay tenants insurance already. I appreciate that I don’t have to pay for cost of repairs but TBH they’re not 4.2k per year are they?[/quote]
Last year I had to pay £5k in repairs for my rental flat. Then management fees, insurance, service charges etc.

I don't put the rent up because I'm not a dick but everyone who thinks being a residential landlord is easy free money is, frankly, an idiot.

@Blossomtoes

You know what *@Silverswirl*? I reckon you and I are about the same age and I’m embarrassed by you. It’s people like you who come out with shit like this that give my generation a bad name.

No, Silverswirl writes like a 12 year old.

I think there is a lot of emotion on this thread. Individual buy to let landlords aren’t the problem. And you can’t expect people to not make money out of housing. That is just daft.

What is required is a mature discussion about the housing market. Government intervention is required to ensure there is good quality, affordable housing available. Blaming individuals who’d are acting within the law to buy and rent our housing isn’t rational. This is a feature of just about every housing market globally.

Well I am not trying to convince anyone I have it so hard @Headabovetheparakeet. I make a profit or else I wouldnt do it. At the same time, as a responsible landlord (one who keeps the property in good repair, abides by the conditions of the tenancy etc) I dont take in huge profits either - not everywhere is like London where people will pay anything to live in a broom cupboard. I offer a legitamate service for which there is in demand, not really clear why it's considered immoral to do so.

@lightisnotwhite but playing devils advocate - why should it be obvious in 2022? Affordable housing has never been available to everyone in any decade so why now?
And how do you make that happen? Who pays for that? And why should they?

@Porcupineintherough

So why is it morally wrong to make a profit from providing housing but not wrong for making a profit out of all the other things people need to live: food, water, energy? It doesnt make sense.

What does make sense is regulation to balance the needs of both tenant and landlord, and to protect the interests of both. And proper enforcement of existing legislation.

I think it is morally wrong to profit from supplying water and energy.

Food is tricky as there’s such a spectrum, and I’m not a communist: profit away from foie gras and truffles and liqueur chocolates because they’re not a necessity, but what we really need is a system where people don’t have to rely on food banks to eat. It’s obscene.

@Tar19891

Plus the landlord is building equity. Come on, we’re all adults as you say. Just admit to profiting off the situation

Property is investment if you're a landlord. Of course there's profit involved. However there's been bugger all interest on savings for so long, do you really blame people for investing in property?

@fallfallfall

so get on the property ladder then. paying rent yet not owning anything to show for it is the major reason people buy. lots of good ideas on how to save 5K a year.

House prices are increasing at a much faster rate than wages (and have been for years now) so even if you save £5k in a year, an entry level property in your area may have increased by the same (or likely much much more) in the same period.

Stop talking to renters like they're idiots.

@TargusEasting oh the irony.

Oh plus I pay 40% of my rental income on tax (because I just have one flat outside of my family home and a decent day job) and because of it I now have to pay 8% stamp duty (thanks George Osborne, twat)

It's not a barrel of laughs like it once was.

Tell you what. Fuck off. Everything I’ve got I’ve earned from a shit background and no/ very little help. If I am lucky enough to one day be able to buy another very small flat to rent out then I will do. And charge the going rate.

😆

@stuntbubbles fair enough but surely there's a spectrum when it comes to energy usage and housing too? We dont live in a country where the state dictates how big a house you are allowed to have, or whether you can heat your house to 16 or 18 degrees.