Housing Crisis solutions

[Aslockton]

I watched the Tonight programme last night which seemed to suggest the rise of 2nd home owners and airbnb is causing the lack of housing.

What's the solution? If I were in change...

1. Prevent Landlords increasing rents by more that 2% a year (straight away)
2. Tax all rental profits at 40% (starting next year)
3. Rise stamp duty on non-primary residence purchases to 20% (straight away)
4. Double council tax on 2nd homes and airbnb (straight away)
5. Waive capital gains tax on all second property sales for 2 years. (This will encourage 2nd home owners and landlords to sell up)
6. Make it law that tenants have to be offered the home first (if landlords sell) and the price will be determined by an independent adjudicator (like lease sales are).

Are these ideas unreasonable/ bonkers or both!!
If I had a second home, I would be tempted to sell up.

RunningSME "I believe there’s eight people going for every rental available these days and only 50% of the rental stock that was available at the beginning of 2019 so that’s where the bottleneck is."

well, I guess this is part of the issue with it being made more of a pain to be a landlord.

the price range you give for the new build houses is flats round here (Zone 5, London). The overcrowding is horrendous. I am trying to get out, but I really think eventually the Highlands will be overpopulated soon, it's bloody awful.

if you've seen the film Idiocracy, we're not far off it now.

I think some of the OP’s suggestions are good ones. I am a LL- I have a house that I used to live in that I now let out. I’d be tempted to sell but I would have to pay tens of thousands in capital tax which I do not want to do.

Good catch.

This.

I dont think just building more houses is the right solution. Yes we need some new houses, but there are also a lot of properties sitting empty that could be filled or old properties that could be renovated which would be quicker than building from scratch. I know this because there is an apartment in my block that's been empty for 18 months, nice inside and in an excellent area - it's such a waste.
Also, when they build houses they are building them on green spaces which I don't agree. And often the targets for new homes include tiny studio apartments when what we actually need are three bedroom houses. Everytime there's a planning application where I live it's for yet more apartments on a tiny square of land, yet we are desperate for family houses.
In my hometown they have built thousands of new houses but they haven't built a new school, doctor's surgery etc to meet the needs of the increased population. I can't see how it's going to work.

Here's my ideas...daft though they might be

1. Private rents should be capped at 1-2% of the mortgage paid for it...it's crazy that many people renting are paying twice as much in rent than they would for a mortgage.
2. house prices should be capped with the cap being increased every 3 years.
3. Any property that's been empty for x amount of years ( maybe 2) should be subject to a compulsory purchase order from LA's at 10% less than market value....this would mean that "investors" who sit on empty properties would lose money.

Banks to give mortgages to people that are already paying regular rental payments monthly that are twice as much a monthly mortgage payment. The fact I can't get a mortgage but have been paying rent for 9 years is bloody ludicrous.

That's absolutely obscene how can any normal person aspire to own a house once they start renting it's completely horrific! But now holiday towns, third and forth houses are being bought by the rich which is destroying full areas. That's a problem. Not people renting to local people. The fact the rich in the country could buy all our businesses, houses, basically everything for play money if they want, because every politician is rich! They can use our country as a dolls play house it's sickening.
Rishi Sunaks wife is a billionaire! How can they understand us to even pretend to care

What would you do about the hundreds of thousands of families being made homeless if these policies were enacted?

But owning a house involves far more than just the mortgage payment. You have insurance, maintenance, repairs, decoration, new kitchen and so on.

Then there’s the fact that the bank is taking on a twenty-five year (or longer) commitment compared to a landlord taking you on for a year or two.

If you think that the right comparison is the rent versus the mortgage and don’t understand the nature of the lender’s risk then maybe you aren’t really ready to take on the responsibility of owning a house.

I've always thought some kind of tax on derelect and vacant properties would be a big help. In my town there are so many. Over every second shop is a disused apartment, houses rotting for years lying empty.at least holiday lets are being used for some purpose. Not to mention the visual affect of these properties being abandoned.

Why would anyone want a tiny house? Our new build houses are already some of the smallest (and most expensive) in the developed world. We have famously small and pokey crappy new builds.

You have to remember there are plenty of empty houses, they are simply either in areas people don't want to live or needing expensive refurbishment that the selling price (or rent) in that area can't cover.

Part of the solution is to ensure wealth creation is spread more evenly across the U.K. including these areas. Drive through Middlesbrough, Hartlepool etc and you see boarded up houses

Another reason for less houses being available but for which nothing can be done about it is the fact that it is much more common to divorce/split up nowadays - plus it 50/50 custody has become the norm (as compared to the every other weekend stay at grandmas with dad type scenario) That means that that 1 family now needs 2 family homes so that both parents can provide a home for the kids - both family sized houses are then half empty while the kids are at the other house.
so even if the actual population hasn’t increased the amount of houses needed has .

another reason is the elderly are putting off going into care homes as they don’t want to have to sell thier homes for fees - they want to be able to pass thier property down to the kids so are hanging to thier houses longer than they used to.

air bnb has designated the rental market. If people can rent thier house out to holiday makers for triple what they would get for a long term rental to someone needing a home financially it’s a no brainier. They don’t think about the moral aspect of ruining a villlage/town for the locals. But the holiday makers/2nd homers soon complain when the lovely friendly village they bought it suddenly becomes a ghost town and the shop and pub close down die to not enough constant trade all year round.

theres a reduction in. Extended family living together. Much less common for grandma or grandad to love in.

Having worked for a large housing association I was astonished by the large number of properties (subsidised rent and council tax) unoccupied, but occupied on paper. Tenants away living with one (or more) parters, living with Mummie, or sofa surfing due to chaotic life styles. An investigation into this, and action would release a great number of properties.

@undermilkjug I agree about the costs meaning nothing to some people. It is very hard to really get just how rich some people are for many. I have just returned to my home town and area , there are calls to stop second home owners just like Cornwall. My friend got divorced and has returned to our hometown and is working back in her old job. The local estate agent has said that 80% of homes are being sold to second home owners.

@BrieAndChilli The amount of houses occupied by one person has roughly tripled since the 1970’s and people breaking up and people living longer is a big part of the issue. I live in a road where there are eight 3 bed houses of decent size with quite big gardens all built in the 1920’s. For 15 years four of them had one person living in them.

My Dad was an immigrant to pretend that immigration doesn’t contribute to housing issues is short sighted but everyone is so desperate not to appear racist there can never be a sensible discussion.

None of these things would solve the essential problem - which is lack of supply. Developers sit on land for ages and build slowly to maximise the price. I guess you can tax land zoned for housing at higher rates if they are empty/unbuilt.

i don’t disagree with some of the points you have highlighted. But essentially, we need to build more housing.

People who say build more houses.. where? We are running out of decent land to build on. They are already building on areas that flood. Where do you suggest they build? Not everyone wants to live in the middle of nowhere up a hill, and we need to keep spots for the environment. We are losing businesses, sporting areas and farms to house building. Cool we will have everyone in a home. But we won't have anywhere to go or food to eat/sell. Great idea!

Nice ideas, but I'm not sure we need those solutions. Changes to tenants rights, people struggling to pay rent or afford holiday lets, pending changes to the law which mean landlords have to make expensive changes to properties and a deteriorating market (look at the figures for last three months, not year on year as the media use and it will show a slowing market) should put quite a few off and make them want to sell.

This time last year I hardly ever saw for sale signs on the street, but i'm seeing a lot more now. Asking prices are starting to drop, so probably actual sales values are lower.

People say there is not enough houses/supply, but it is not just dictated by number of properties, as so many factors influence someone wanting to sell and people being able to buy and what type of properties are on the market too. It's already being see elsewhere in the world.

More social housing would be good though. paying private landlords to house people on benefits or a low income doesn't make sense. It would have helped us a lot when we were on a low income.

They can tax landlords into oblivion, which would cause as many problems as it "solves", but until that fairly flipping big elephant is ignored, the one that grew by what 10% in the last 40 years alone, it would be like sticking a plaster on

An axe wound. Damn this site to heck on mobile this morning.

"Any property that's been empty for x amount of years ( maybe 2) should be subject to a compulsory purchase order from LA's at 10% less than market value....this would mean that "investors" who sit on empty properties would lose money."

Those who are caught up in probate should obviously be excluded. Although if a warning was given and it was a case of the executor playing God (I've been there) if might help the other beneficiaries.

We need to slow down our population growth. As said our population expansion isn't natural. We often have a lot of adults looking for housing.

My former home is up for sale
It was rented out under market rate
All repairs & certificates are up to date
The tenants have been offered first purchase, but are not in a position to buy. The tenants have been provided with plenty of notice.
I have paid all my taxes
All boxes ticked

I am one of the good LL

However, there are unscrupulous LL who do not perform repairs & do not pay taxes.

I don't see how this will solve the housing crisis

This is crap. There's plenty of land suitable for building if your primary aim is to provide decent housing not maximise some developers profits.

I think it's really bad how LLs are allowed to put the rent up just like that. In France they cant just do that. In France too the tenant has first opportunity to buy and the owner is forced to accept an offer at the asking price which stops all the ridiculous over offering you see in the UK.

But I think one of the biggest issues in the UK is the attachment to living in houses, its cultural. In lots of places on the continent you have very well to do families who are very happy to live in big (glamorous!) apartments. Because the UK traditionally hasnt built big housing blocks (like the Hausmannien apartments), it means that there are practically no apartments with cachet so peoples obsession with houses continues. One of the problems with housing in the UK comes from that I reckon. For example a street in Paris might have 500 households on it, but in London because they are old victorian or georgian terraces, there are only 100 households. That means housing cant be provided upwards, it has to go outwards, meaning pushing out into the countryside. And the problem with that is that the UK is a relatively small land mass for a relatively high number of people.