Emergency rent freeze laws passed !!??

[happyfishcoco]

Emergency rent freeze laws passed in Scotland
and Welsh maybe follow.

YABU = vote agree to rent freeze
YANBU = vote for not agree to rent freeze

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63164850.amp

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-63131075.amp

DIL friend works in a big solicitor practice. They're flat out issuing eviction notices. Just seen on the news 90k homeless in Wales that's going to rise

Agree

i have already been contacted by a number of estate agents telling me now is a great time to get the best from the rental market

I’ve never increased rent while I have had good tenants in

Can’t give tenants more legal protections as landlords will sell up.

Can't freeze rents because landlords will sell up.

Can’t do X Y or Z for tenants because landlords will sell up.

Urgh.

The big boys hide behind shell companies based abroad. Our council spent 15 years chasing one. They'd just start up new companies dodging and diving. They were never caught shadow selling to themselves again and again

The answer is to build more houses, in order to control the supply and demand related house price rises, and to build copious amounts of social housing, as any good government should do, so that government can have an impact on rental controls through competition.

The reality is that the government is just creating a situation that forces LL to sell into a housing market that is so bouyant that the prices still maintain even with the extra properties.

Then the government make the LL the villans when in fact it is their incompetence.

Bad LL who rent unsafe properties should be banned from being LL. But we still desperately need good LL. Not this current situation.

But you would expect any other business to run at a loss?

@Eeksteek The issue in times gone by has always been with 100% mortgages they are aimed at precisely the kind of people who should never have a mortgage. As with everything when the risk increases for the lender as does the rate, it’s rarely the case the people are better off with those mortgages than renting, at best they might not be worse off but then of course something happens. The something might be losing their job, it might be major repairs to the house, it might be a relationship breakdown. And because there’s no skin in the game as such only the money that they’ve paid off by making the repayments people think they can walk away. Amongst my school friendship group in the late 90s 2000s we saw quite a few of them either remortgage and spunk the equity away on cars and holidays.
Or one of the above happened and they literally just handed the keys back having spent years spending two or £300 more than they would have on rent,l and the home maintenance etc. additionally you used to get clobbered with 12 years for the banks to recover the debt of believe they’ve now reduced that to 6 though.

it’s also not widely known but if you get a property repossessed no High Street lenders going to touch you with the bargepole for a long time. And it’s quite likely the groups will share information so if you are repossessed by anyone in the bank of Scotland‘s group for example they will never lend to you again.

It can work for some people and in fact it did work for me right back in 1998 that’s how I got on the ladder but I bought the house for literally two times my annual income so working in a bar I could cover that mortgage it was absolute buttons.

We need more council or HA housing providing decent accommodation at a fair price. That’s what the govt should be concentrating on. That’s the only way people will have secure, long term, homes. Letting people buy their council houses is fine as long as they keep the supply of council houses at a high enough level.

Had a look at our council property to let 3 beds in a bad, bad area. That's daylight robbery round here. That's our council for you 🙈

Sorry £900 pcm. I'm that mad my brains fried

Well that's true. BUT there are things that the government could do which would help out renters without penalising the landlord. But make being a landlord unprofitable and yes, they'll sell up. If those properties were being replaced by social housing it'd be ok, but it isn't. And there's an enormous swathe of people who will never be able to, or want to buy.

Historically when rents have been controlled, the amount of stock available to rent has declined. Think about that.

It's not about whether it's the tenant's problem. Or whether the landlord has made a bad decision.
Most landlords (like every other type of investor) will only hold an asset if it is likely to make money in the short or long term. If it's going to lose money they will eventually sell and that will mean les properties available to rent unless (i) more public house for rent is constructed (ii) landlords who are cash buyers enter the market - and they tend to prefer small flats not family properties or (iii) houses become more affordable for former tenants - not likely at the moment because of increased interest rates, even if house prices fall.

Just wait till they bring in the planned legislation to prevent any house being sold with less than a D energy certificate. The days of a fixer upper will be over, and people will find it even harder to buy their own homes as it will push up prices. I can see many properties lying empty.

Many normal people with homeowner mortgages will be forced to sell up because the extent of interest rises have resulted in catastrophic payments.

What makes you think that landlords are significantly different? These are unprecedented changes for many people, who have come out of 1.5% mortgages to face more than 6%. Hardly a "slight" increase.

I guess the same rationale should apply then and that many homeowners should never have been able to buy.

How will that work for older, listed buildings? When we bought our house the potential on the EPC was only an F. I’m not sure how we would get ours to D?

I have my life savings of £200,000 tied up in one buy to let home - a lovely family pays below market rent (with housing benefit) £675 per month - this one isn't mortgaged, but if there is a huge bill or they stop paying, I'd still have to get out of retirement and get a job to survive. It's a 2 way agreement. If push comes to shove, I'd have to sell. The tenant family would have to find another £200 per month to live anywhere similar. I'd sell, put some money in premium bonds and buy a camper...

Are there such plans? Why ever would they do that? Surely all the Tory country piles would be worthless if they did that?!

We could sell up our 5 units... Where would those 5 households go? 3 are vulnerable, on housing benefit and can't afford market rents. Other 2 are self funding but would struggle elsewhere. Unless you know about some wonderful public building scheme, right now, but to let landlords are very much needed. Including landlords like pension schemes and King Charles...

You mean landlords like the Duchy of Cornwall? Providing income for king Charles for decades? Tell him he was a sponger! Lucky him not to have been liable for capital gains tax, inheritance tax or struggle with mortgage payments.

You’ll have to bring it up to a C by 2033 according to this
https://www.gov.scot/policies/energy-efficiency/energy-efficiency-in-homes/

Do bear in mind lots of "accidental" landlords are people who have inherited property - many of us who are "deliberate" landlords have had to finance the purchase ourselves at huge expense. The harder it gets, the fewer landlords will stay in the business. Tenants will be the ones to lose out - consider what that means.

Hopefully “where technically feasible and cost efficient” would be our get out, although we aren’t in Scotland so I’m less worried now.

It sounds great but I'm just selling a rental property and I would have needed to put the rent up eventually just to cover the cost of inflation. Not all landlords are making money from rent!

It's not a private transaction when taxpayers money is paying the rent via housing benefit/UC. Governments have a duty to save taxpayer money!