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?

@OUchica

We are first time land lords by chance. As dh's new job required us to move to another European country so we are renters in our existing flat.

Our mortgage is same as the rent we receive, it's about £15 more than rent. On top we pay for agency fees, have already had to spend on technician visit for boiler a few times as new tenant is not from UK and couldn't re adjust the water pressure. She also wanted a peofessional visit to check brand new cooker we got few months before we moved out, as she burnt her cakes twice. On the other hand, we are paying €700 more on our rent now for similar area size, and ad renters we were sent €200 technician visit bill for a dishwasher with faulty eco wash setting. There was no prior agreement about this but it's a strong owners market. On the other hand, in London our property price has slightly went down, it was a renter's market last year so tenant was able to negotiate price, we had to change blinds per renter's liking and painted walls in Little Greene paint while.our tenant forgot to inform us that she has a pet and was expecting a child with a visiting boyfriend. We werw told there was a single, peofessional female but suddenly there is a young family. We have no problem with any of it but find it strange she didn't tell us this. While where we are renting now, we had to submit our complete professional history, the landlord got minor touch ups on the stains on the wall, previous tenants lived for 7 years and had 2 very young kids. We were made to purchase their furniture as they had offers from other potential tenants.
We had lived as tenants in 2 properties in UK before finally owning one, so I can see both sides. But it's wrong to say that every landlord in UK is out to make profits and there are no accidental or decent landlords.

There is no reason why a tenant has to give you a play by play of her life choices after she has moved in unless we are talking about her bringing in 6 people or sub-letting.

If she was renting as a couple and applied jointly - then yes. She would need to inform you (for obvious reasons).

Privacy is important. Respect that.

@BambinaJAS call presumably the child’s father will be moving in with her so she’ll be wanting to add him to the tenancy no ?

Also producing an animal after you’ve moved into a rental is pretty poor form, we had exactly the same with a tenant who locked the dog in the garage for hours and hours on end howling and crying and really upset in our lovely neighbours who id known for 25 years. Was never quite the same after we moved back in.

I agree that the tenant has a right to privacy, @BambinaJAS, but not stating that she has a pet (presumably a cat or dog) is a definite no-no. The rental agreements I've signed specifically ask whether you have a pet and the LL may decide to ask for a pet deposit.

@ShirleyPhallus

A genuine question for those who hate landlords - what is the alternative?

Many many people cannot afford to buy, or do not want to (ie students, overseas visitors, people wanting to live in a city for a year only etc). What’s the alternative then if we don’t have landlords with properties to rent out?

More social housing. Jesus, this thread just goes round and round n circles. If only people would read it before posting.

Mortgage needs a down payment (deposit( to get payments like that, then the landlord has insurance, taxes and repairs to factor in, not to mention actually making money from it. It's not unfair that's just what it costs.

@SucculentChalice

*SwanBuster You are making some gross assumptions - the hall mark of a landlord.(

My dear. I'm a lawyer first, a landlord second. I'm deliberately baiting you to get information.

You’re baiting all right. It’s debatable whether it’s for information.

@Jobseeker19

I have yet to meet a landlord who pays insurance.

Trust me, I've been a landlord for years and you'd be stupid not to have insurance.

@Tar19891

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

Of course we need to profit off it, we wouldn't do it for free! Would you go to work for free?

Would you go to work for free?

Ludicrous. You’re not going to work. You’re living on a passive income.

«If you don’t want to live in a communist society (which is has proved a disaster time and time again) then some people will own more and some will own less.
People buy houses via hard work, sacrifice or sheer luck and good fortune.»

This is just stupid.
As if the choices are ONLY soviet era communism OR rampant capitalism.
As any idiot ought to know there are systems between; some if which work beautifully. Much lower gap between the rich and poor, robust state, much MUCH less crime. And people are happy.

You don’t believe it?
Oh look, there’s Finland!

Admittedly, Finland’s in a tricky situation with their bonkers neighbour to the east. But apart from that: amazing!

I’m a landlord.
I’m expecting zero sympathy. However just to give you an idea.
My tenants pay me £4400 per month. (Very expensive part of the country)
The tax is £2000 per month.
The mortgage is £1400 per month.
I’m left with £1k per month income and for that I deal with all the hassle of repairs and maintenance plus insurance. All of that is admittedly tax deductible.
The capital gain is subject to Capital Gains Tax.
Anyway point being it isn’t worth my while any more. Am booting my tenants out this summer and selling up.
Sadly for them there is very little on the market at the moment and the equivalent to my house is currently on the market to rent at over £5k per month.

As I said I expect zero sympathy and I’m not looking for it.
But headline numbers aren’t quite as nice when translated to the bottom line.

My tenants pay me £4400 per month. (Very expensive part of the country) The tax is £2000 per month

How does that work? It would be £1760 as a higher rate tax payer.

@Blossomtoes

Would you go to work for free?

Ludicrous. You’re not going to work. You’re living on a passive income.

It isn't passive income, me and DH do all the repairs ourselves and we renovated it from scratch.

Foods also essential to life and last time I looked all the major food retailers have shareholders who make a profit from providing an essential. The owners of supermarkets are billionaires who have made their money profiting from providing something that keeps people alive.

It is the role of government and local authorities to provide affordable housing, not individuals. Sadly all the council houses were sold off leaving people who need affordable housing with nowhere to live.

My tenant has no wish to buy anywhere but she does need to live somewhere. Where do you propose she lives if there were no private rentals?

As someone pointed out earlier we live in a capitalist society. Why would I rent out my house at cost? Why would I take that risk?

@Blossomtoes being a landlord is less passive than having a savings account or owning shares. Or are those forbidden activities too in your book?

[quote Porcupineintherough]@Blossomtoes being a landlord is less passive than having a savings account or owning shares. Or are those forbidden activities too in your book?[/quote]
No, I own shares. I don’t compare it to going to work, though.

[quote Nothappyatwork]@BambinaJAS call presumably the child’s father will be moving in with her so she’ll be wanting to add him to the tenancy no ?[/quote]
You are assuming too much.

Life happens. She got pregnant after her tenancy started, will have a child, and now has her partner with her.

They may choose to leave for a larger rental property or even buy.

That is not something that is the landlords business

Now, if she wants to stay in the rental with her partner and baby, and she wants to formalise this via a new joint tenancy agreement, then it becomes the landlords business.

At that point (and only at that point) can a landlord get involved.

In regards to pets, I have always found the pet deposit a bit bizarre. There is already a rental deposit, so asking for more is a bit redundant (maximum damage will be a deposit, not sure how a cat will cause even more. Unless you have silk carpets running around the house and they destroy them?).

I have also seen agents ask for more rent if you have a cat (I find this incredibly cheeky. And I have flat out told some agents to bugger off when they tried this on a its clearly an attempt at extracting even more revenue (and likely commission)).

I am a cat person (we have 2) so I will caveat that what I stated is based only on a cat. I do not know how much damage a dog can cause in a property. I have no experience with them.

@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?

I must be doing something wrong just done a mortgage calculation on the house I rent out. On a 95% mortgage the repayments would be £1200 a month I only rent it for £900. From that the government and letting agent take there pound of flesh, then there are repairs insurance and other costs.

Thanks for pointing this out I think I’ll kick out the tenants and sell the house and go travelling.

@Jobseeker19

I have yet to meet a landlord who pays insurance.

How many landlords do you know?

Cats can very easily damage an ordinary carpet it doesn’t need to be made of silk I have three and believe me I replaced carpets more often than is natural for a person. Dogs can cause horrendous damage, particularly in flats where they literally go out of their minds with boredom if left on attended. Obviously the deposit is the illegal maximum but that certainly isn’t the maximum the tenant can be on the hook for, the small claims route is always available if the damage exceeds the deposit.

So many millionaires posting on here who don’t own their own homes and have to rent and hate their landlords…🤪

I own my house but have a very annoying boy cat who I love who periodically sprays in my house . I obviously clear it up straight away but if I was renting I no doubt would have to pay for new carpets and some of the skirting he has used 🙄🙄.. cats can be just as beastly as dogs ..

I'm always concerned when I know people are renting and have animals that if they have to move they will struggle to find somewhere that takes them .. near me recently someone was in that exact position and had to revoke his family pets ..wouldn't be worth the risk for me !

@BambinaJAS, how do you know we don't respect her privacy? Stop assuming. She moved in our flat not telling us she has a pet. Many lanflords don't want to rent to pet owners and there are reasons for it. Tenant should be open about who is planning to live their. We found this as we have a storage in building which we only gave access to agency in case of urgency but we found within 2 months of her moving, boxes of pet foods and other items stored by her. We have a right to know who lives in our property. When you say you are a single, petless occupant but then arrive with a pet and a boyfriend, it's a bit different from renter maintaining their privacy. I am sure you will come with some made up reason for her doing so as she is a renter and we are mean landlord. Problem with people like you are you are so biased and extreme in your opinions ( in this case against landlords) that you can't take balance view on a topic from both perspectives. Not all landlords are profit makers, and not all renters are victims. We bought this flat only a few years ago and until then lived as renters, and only left as had to move for job transfer. Not all property owners have had capital gains, we bought this a year before Corona and UK leaving EU and price have come down. And to be honest, looking at political system in UK and recent policies, we have very little hope for the country, I really hope I am wrong. And I am not against social housing and in favour of capitalism. I gave my example only becaue a postet said there are no accidental landlords. There is ignorance on both sides.

@Chestofdraws

So many millionaires posting on here who don’t own their own homes and have to rent and hate their landlords…🤪

That’s an odd conclusion to draw. There are a lot of us who object to the principle of amateur landlords essentially having their property bought for them by their tenants. You’re assuming none of us are homeowners - I’m not sure why.