to think those who demonised BTL landlords are (partially) responsible for rental crisis

[LargeDeviation]

Many small landlords are selling because:

• mortgate interest is now only partially deductible for tax
• S21 evictions are being stopped, meaning it will be impossible to kick out bad tenants; the courts are too backed up to actually enforce any evictions even when it's allowed anyway
• Onerous EPC rules coming in which will cost huge sums to rectify
• More and more registers, inspections and paperwork

At the same time, landlords have spent the last few years being jeered as being unethical - and many MNers haven't been shy to raise their voices about that.

The tiny minority of renters fortunate enough to be able to afford a deposit and mortgage might be happy; they will have a bit more choice and a slightly lower price. For other renters they are having real problems.

Shelter and other housing charities should be campaigning for more landlord friendly policies such as easier tenant evictions and restoring full mortgage interest deductions for tax if they want to improve housing availability on a large scale, but they won't because PR-wise it will be a nightmare as their changes will be seen to disadvantage individual tenants.

Yes, there are other factors too - large scale immigration; planning system broken; not enough housebuilding; more singletons/split families and fewer intergenerational families - but landlords selling up because of government policies and societal ostracism is a major cause.

I am not a landlord but have been in the past - there is no way I would become a new landlord in the current environment.

Those who called landlords rent-seeking scum or similar should feel ashamed.

I've said this already. Build more council houses.

YABU houses shouldn't be a gold brick commodity used for profiteers they should be a means to shelter people. We need more social housing, that is where the crisis is.

I say this as a homeowner (thank the gods), however I used to be a renter and a perfect tenant and some of the disgusting unscrupulous landlords that rented us their unfit properties which I was afraid to complain too strongly about or withhold rent (because essential repairs weren't forthcoming even after months of complaining) incase I lost good references for my next rental makes me believe Landlords by and large are utter parasitic scum.

I absolutely think there needs to be rental homes, just not a hallway in an HMO with a bed, rug and fridge in it.

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats

BTL landlords are going to get eviserated in the current mortgage environment.

It was always about capital appreciation for them (house price rises), not yield.

Government support is going to be stretched just helping to keep normal mortgage holders in their homes.

No one is going to be weeping for the BTL landlords.

@Beezknees maybe supermarkets shouldn’t profit either from food, or clothes shops, maybe everything should be owned by the state???

oh wait - I think that one’s been done and failed.

Bingo!

YABU. If the opinion of random people online is too much for landlords to handle, they’re in the wrong job and therefore should sell up.

Shit landlords shouldn’t be landlords at all and the best way to improve people’s perception is for landlords to get it right for tenants. I say this as both a landlord and tenant.

The main issues are air bnb is more profitable and less hassle, and foreign BTL needs regulating to restore the availability of property to British buyers.

Everyone should pay tax. Some people who own houses aren’t suited to being landlords.

There needs to better regulation and more empowered trnants

but the tax deduction change was just stupid policy - it’s taken away money that would be used to improve standards and therefore achieving the exact opposite of improving propety standards

crappy landlords will just be crapper and good landlords will sell and their happy tenants will have to find somewhere else

very poor policy

and a lot of people aren’t aware that one of the drivers of Osborne for making all these changes was to drive out small landlords and incentive mass build to rents. Which have there own issues…

The former private rentals should be bought up by housing associations to manage.
Don't agree that keeping people trapped in insecure tenancies and high rents is an acceptable way to secure a landlords future.

We rent our old home out. We rent it for under market value, we allow pets, we don't do inspections as the couple renting are friends of ours, I didn't charge any rent for about four months during Covid as they were furloughed and worried about money, repairs are done within 48 hours. If I'm scum then 🤷‍♀️

We will be selling it when they decide to move out anyway.

@Beezknees so you are equally livid with farmers then for charging for food?

When they stopped benefits for 16-18 year olds lots of teenagers ended up homeless on the streets.

@cawfeee some housing associations are APPALLING

I agree. But I also think a person shouldn't be able to buy their council house, nor should there be any lifetime tenancies. And I think when a council tenant is in a position to buy a home of their own, they should move on, instead of staying in subsidised housing.

Of course landlords need to make some profit on a rental… or how do you think the repairs will be done? The maintenance?

I’m not a landlord but I don’t see why landlords should be out of pocket.

Shitty landlords that don’t do maintenance or repairs however should most definitely be penalised and banned from renting.

Farmers are often struggling to get by and have high suicide rates and high numbers leaving farming. I wouldn't blame them, more the supermarkets and laws giving supermarkets free rein to decimate communities. But yes, I would certainly back a more cooperative -based food system.

I agree with what you are saying. It utter madness that they sold them all off. Very short sighted decision.

No, farmers actually have to put in a lot of hard work.

You’re seriously comparing parasitical BTL landlords with farmers that feed us and work damn hard in all weathers?

And building more council houses is hardly a quick solution. People need to live somewhere and not everyone who wants to rent is in need of social housing anyway - some people just want to rent for a variety of reasons and don't require subsidised rents or council properties. And why would anyone bother with the hassle that comes from being a landlord without making some money from it?

I'm a HA tenant and private rentals in my area for the same type of property that I live in are almost double the rent that I pay. Shameful.

You've got things the wrong way around, the private tenants are paying what their accommodation is worth. You're paying an artificially low price that is only possible because your landlord is willing to subsidise you by charging you too little.

If we're going to go around sorting out prices that are wrong, we'd double your rent, not halve theirs.

But absolutely bad landlords need to be penalised and stopped from renting substandard homes or charging obscene amounts.

There must be others who just wanted a place to rent so it was flexible etc. When I was in my twenties there were loads of us, we didn’t think about social housing.

Same in previous country

Landlords provide a service (short term accommodation with more flexibility) in a society with plentiful housing such that most customers have a choice to buy or rent.

We do not have such a society with plentiful housing. Therefore landlords are mostly exploiting customers who don't have a choice while contributing negatively towards them not having a choice.

Worse still, landlords on the whole vote against the free market by restricting new developments.

So they choke supply in multiple ways (buying up existing stock and preventing new stock) and leech from the economic output of their tenants massively.