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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:
SwanBuster · 02/04/2022 21:33

@Hospedia

Renting can be very unfair though, particularly if you do want to buy. Banks will look at you paying £800 a month in rent and turn you down for a £450 mortgage as they don't think you can afford it, they'll then ask you to prove you can afford it by saving up £10,000 except you can't afford to do that because you're paying £800 a month rent...

There needs to be more support for people moving from renting to buying, including making banks take renting history into account - someone who has paid £800 every month for several years without fail is not going to be at high risk of being unable to afford £450 a month mortgage.

Alongside this there should be greater protections for renters and tighter regulation of landlords and letting agents. Yeah, there are decent landlords and letting agents out there but there are also a lot of cowboys. Rent controls, standardised tenancy agreements, service agreements set by law (e.g., timescales for repairs, minimum accommodation standards, etc), and an independent complaints commission with the ability to actually penalise rogue landlords/agents would all go a long way towards improving the industry.

The bizarre part is people don't realise this is all absolutely by design. Good luck with seeing any changes to the systems in place to keep the poor poor and drag ever more people into a state where their life is 'easy monthly payments' on everything.

It doesn't matter who you vote for either. This plan is set by people with much, much more capital than their puppets like Boris, Kier, Uncle Joe in the states or even his predecessor Trump.

Nothappyatwork · 02/04/2022 21:33

@babywalker56

*Renting can be very unfair though, particularly if you do want to buy. Banks will look at you paying £800 a month in rent and turn you down for a £450 mortgage as they don't think you can afford it, they'll then ask you to prove you can afford it by saving up £10,000 except you can't afford to do that because you're paying £800 a month rent...

There needs to be more support for people moving from renting to buying, including making banks take renting history into account - someone who has paid £800 every month for several years without fail is not going to be at high risk of being unable to afford £450 a month mortgage.*

Literally this! It’s a never ending cycle

For goodness sake there is there’s an app go and find it, google it, take some responsibility for making your own life better.
Hospedia · 02/04/2022 21:34

I also think all landlords should have to go on an accreditation course run by local authorities which sets out their rights and responsibilities and tells them what their tenants rights and responsibilities are, they get certified by going on the course, have to renew it every five years to ensure they're up to date on current regulations, and if they're not certified then they cannot rent out properties. It would weed out a lot of the accidental landlords and the have-a-go landlords who think it's an easy way to make quick money and the don't-give-a-shit landlords. So many times there are threads of here where someone is renting out a property and has little clue of their obligations towards their tenant or their tenant's rights (in fairness, they're usually put immediately right by the better landlords on MN).

Thesearmsofmine · 02/04/2022 21:34

I hear you OP, our rent is also less than a mortgage payment on this house would be and it is so frustrating thinking about the 10s of thousands of pounds we have paid in rent with nothing to show for it while our landlord (who is perfectly nice) will have had this house fully paid off and can sell it on.
Of course landlords have to pay insurance etc, but they gain plenty from renting out homes, they aren’t doing it from the goodness of their hearts.

fridgepants · 02/04/2022 21:34

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the user's request.

Makeitsoso · 02/04/2022 21:34

But to let mortages are silly money compared to an average one. Two types of people are making money from property
A) banks
B) slum landlords who don’t care about anything, take peoples benefits (well beyond Housing element) and will evict people if repairs are needed etc.

People who aren’t especially making money are accidental landlords with morals.

EasterIssland · 02/04/2022 21:34

@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 they’re. They’re a business at the end of the day and they’re there to make some money otherwise they’d not rent it.

Why don’t you buy a house then If it’s that easy ?

MrsTerryPratchett · 02/04/2022 21:35

The bizarre part is people don't realise this is all absolutely by design.

Yup. Have a read. And watch the film Push.

MrsWinters · 02/04/2022 21:35

Well buy then….

ivykaty44 · 02/04/2022 21:36

How much would the mortgage be at 9%

At £100,000 mortgage on £110,000 flat over 25 years would be £923

Rates will rise and 9 % isn’t particularly high. Back in the late 1990s I fixed at 8% and that was a good deal

MrsTerryPratchett · 02/04/2022 21:36

Why don’t you buy a house then If it’s that easy ?

Alright there Marie Antoinette.

SwanBuster · 02/04/2022 21:36

@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.
😂😂😂😂

Has it not come to your attention that thanks to monetary policy decisions over the last 20 years, even people on what we would assume to be 'decent' incomes - let's say 40k per year - are about to see their essential expenses get dangerously close to their net incomes, and maybe exceed them?

Hospedia · 02/04/2022 21:36

For goodness sake there is there’s an app go and find it, google it, take some responsibility for making your own life better

How do people do this when there are systemic barriers in they way?

fridgepants · 02/04/2022 21:36

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the user's request.

Nothappyatwork · 02/04/2022 21:37

@Hospedia

For goodness sake there is there’s an app go and find it, google it, take some responsibility for making your own life better

How do people do this when there are systemic barriers in they way?

Systematic barriers in the way of you downloading an app ?
Nsky · 02/04/2022 21:38

Some depend on your rent, £800 is cheap, here south east more than that.
What is wrong, lack of council housing, buying should be banned

Elphame · 02/04/2022 21:38

@Jobseeker19

I have yet to meet a landlord who pays insurance.
They pay buildings insurance and landlords insurance.
TheHateIsNotGood · 02/04/2022 21:39

Well sell it then prsphne

Nothappyatwork · 02/04/2022 21:39

@Hospedia - www.creditladder.co.uk/
There you go I’m literally wiping your arse for you

candycane222 · 02/04/2022 21:39

It is unfair OP, deeply unfair. I don't want to depress you but unfortunately it seems to be getting worse as well.

Like some pps I am lucky enough and old enough to have been able to buy - but I renting as a young adult in the 80s I lived in some fab places and had plenty left over to eat out, treat myself to nice clothes etc on a not at all spectacular graduate salary.

Agree absolutely that turning homes into a "store of wealth" has really screwed things up for younger people. Incidentally, a lot of those "storing wealth" are Russian Angry

MrsTerryPratchett · 02/04/2022 21:39

I am not a Communist but I wish people would read some Marx. If someone owns the means of production asset, they make all the profit from it. If I don't I can't buy the means of production asset because I don't have the cash. They keep accumulating cash so they keep the means of production asset and so do their children. My labour goes to maintain their profit. Leaving nothing spare to buy the means of production asset.

Has someone mentioned avocado toast and iPhones yet?

Changemaname1 · 02/04/2022 21:40

“Just buy then”

😂😂😂 aye I bet OP never thought of that !

dfendyr · 02/04/2022 21:40

@Jobseeker19

I have yet to meet a landlord who pays insurance.
my dm is an accidental LL and she has insurance
LardyDee · 02/04/2022 21:41

@Hospedia

I also think all landlords should have to go on an accreditation course run by local authorities which sets out their rights and responsibilities and tells them what their tenants rights and responsibilities are, they get certified by going on the course, have to renew it every five years to ensure they're up to date on current regulations, and if they're not certified then they cannot rent out properties. It would weed out a lot of the accidental landlords and the have-a-go landlords who think it's an easy way to make quick money and the don't-give-a-shit landlords. So many times there are threads of here where someone is renting out a property and has little clue of their obligations towards their tenant or their tenant's rights (in fairness, they're usually put immediately right by the better landlords on MN).
I think it would make more sense just to have proper enforcement of the regulations. Many many years ago local authorities used to employ tenancy officers and have properly resourced environmental-health departments who would serve notices on private landlords and take court action where necessary. Most tenants just are not able to enforce their rights.

(Incidentally many many years ago we also had rent controls, and the rental market was a disaster. I would not recommend the return of them.)

Hospedia · 02/04/2022 21:41

There you go I’m literally wiping your arse for you

Hmm

I don't need your app or your massive attitude, thanks.

I was referring to it not being easy for people to save when rent takes up such a large chunk of their income but that's because I don't have the emotional depth of a puddle and can empathise with the difficulties of others.