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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that renters have put up with big monthly rises for years

423 replies

Upthebracket22 · 14/10/2022 07:44

We rent because we have been priced out of the housing market for years & years. We have raised our kids in a rented house & put up with large rises in monthly payments. We’ve been ‘lucky’ in that we’ve been on our current house for 10 years.

Noone has given a flying fuck about renters & the amount we pay & have had to find extra each year but now it’s mortgages going up, it’s all ‘poor mortgage holders’ - it’s really grating on me.

As it goes, the coming housing downturn will mean we actually might be able to buy a house. Safe secure affordable housing is a good thing.

the current housing boom has been created by cheap money and that era is ending. An entire generation of people have been priced out of a safe home & while I don’t want to people in difficulty, renters have had to put up with it for years ‘move to a cheaper area’ being the main nonsense.

We are a normal family with good jobs but saving for a deposit has been impossible because of insanely high rents.

i am tired of the ‘poor mortgage holder’ rhetoric when those of us trapped in rented homes have put up with large monthly hikes for years.

i know this won’t be a popular view on here but for us renters, the last decade had been difficult and no one has given a shit.

OP posts:
lightand · 14/10/2022 07:45

I think you make good points.

Dippydinosaurus · 14/10/2022 07:50

Rent have gone up massively in the last few years despite record low interest rates. We have a deposit and are ready to move but our wages won't cover 4.5x mortgage as prices are way over inflated. The market in our area is coming down and 3 bed houses in nice areas are starting to come onto the market. Hopefully we can move before our landlord puts the rent up (again) due to high interest rates.

Cartor2 · 14/10/2022 07:50

I think most people realise that increased mortgage costs get passed onto to renters.

Sikaris · 14/10/2022 07:50

I have a mortgage and I totally agree with you. Also, interest rates have been so low that plenty of mortgage holders could easily have fixed their rates for the next twenty years for a rate that was a bit higher but still very doable. We fixed our rates at 2.2 percent when the market was 0.5 percent. People thought we were idiots but we fixed it for the next 25 years! Mortgage holders had their chance, renters never had a chance, they're stuck paying more and more without ever being able to fix anything long term. Being a renter must be a bit scary at this time.

girlmom21 · 14/10/2022 07:51

You're completely right OP. Private renters always get shafted.

Sunshineandrainbow · 14/10/2022 07:51

Absolutely well said, and the point that renters don't benefit from increase of property value.
I have rented for 25 years, always paid rent on time, work full time plus 2 evenings at a second job but just can't afford to buy.

GalesThisMorning · 14/10/2022 07:52

Yes you are absolutely right. I'm a home owner with a low mortgage, my house was £106K when we bought 7 years ago. Our mortgage is about £400 pcm. That seems about right for an area with low wages and few job prospects. So the house price 'fit' if you know what I mean.

Rent prices don't reflect anything near the same reality though! My friend 2 doors down pays £650 a month to rent a house that is smaller than mine. She's been there years, similar houses coming onto the rental market now are £850. It's not okay, it's not sustainable, but there is no expectation that the government will leap in and fix it the way we're all hoping for mortgages!

Original poster
Upthebracket22 · 14/10/2022 07:52

I mean obviously there should be a change in government policy too. Renting rules likes those in Europe would be a good start. I don’t actually object to renting if I had proper long term security but it’s a shit show.

OP posts:
Pava22 · 14/10/2022 07:53

Right here with you op! Rented since I was 18 with dh. We are now 14 years on and everything we finally saved enough for a deposit covid happened and drained it as had to use it to pay rent on our business rent and house rent. So back to square one with both rents going in last year!

Damnautocorrect · 14/10/2022 07:53

I’ve thought it, not been brave enough to say it though! I agree ours went up 40% with one months notice.

but it’s not a race to the bottom and higher rates will get past on to renters if the market can take it. And the market will take it as people have lives, kids in schools and jobs. So little choice.

Original poster
Upthebracket22 · 14/10/2022 07:53

And for the record, I don’t think the government can afford to bail out mortgage holders and nor should they use public money to do so!

OP posts:
ewwness · 14/10/2022 07:53

I've been private renting for years, been in our current home for the last 5 but now the landlord has sold it. We can't afford to rent anymore so waiting to go into a hostel via council. Smaller houses in our area are still £200 + what we pay now.

SeasonFinale · 14/10/2022 07:54

The reality is as soon as rent limitations would come in there would be less rental property available because not all landlords can subsidise the renter by having a low rental income. Fewer rental properties increases demand and inflates the rent.

RewildingAmbridge · 14/10/2022 07:54

Here is another unpopular view, we had DS late and chose to have only one child, we also both had two jobs for a number of years despite working in a professional field, this afforded us home ownership. Different people different choices. Interest rates have been low but house prices extortionate. Especially if you live in the South.

Pava22 · 14/10/2022 07:55

Yep South here we pay £1795 a month for a demi detached 3 bed. The neighbours own and pay 1200 a month mortgage

GalesThisMorning · 14/10/2022 07:56

I grew up in a country where renting is really common. Amateur or accidental renters are less common though, and most of the rental property is owned by corporate interests like pension funds etc. They are better able to weather a storm without the immediate fear of having to sell or raise rents to crazy levels. They know the laws, have no emotional investment in the property, are able to budget for maintenance etc etc... Its a much better system

Redqueenheart · 14/10/2022 07:57

It always comes down to this: people should stop voting for politicians who don't care about the rights of renters and those people with lower or average incomes in general.

The Tories will always be on the side of landlords because the majority of them are home-owners, wealthy and often landlords themselves.

Original poster
Upthebracket22 · 14/10/2022 07:57

@RewildingAmbridge your point just reinforces the ‘move to a cheaper area’ nonsense. We both have professional careers but can’t buy because housing is too expensive. We haven’t eaten too many avocados or bought too many lattes. HOUSING IS TOO EXPENSIVE for normal people now.

OP posts:
Lunar270 · 14/10/2022 07:59

Cartor2 · 14/10/2022 07:50

I think most people realise that increased mortgage costs get passed onto to renters.

It does and in many ways it reflects what homeowners experience. However, I often don't understand why this has to be the case for renters.

I grant that everyone is different but I rent a house out and never put the rent up. My current tenants have been with me for 4 years now and I guess the rent is actually reducing over time, due to inflation. I think the current market rate is £300 higher but it doesn't matter to me as my (small) mortgage is getting smaller too. I'm not interested in having it both ways and my tenants are happy, which is more important, especially in the current climate.

midgetastic · 14/10/2022 07:59

I find it disgusting that renters were failing affordability checks when their rent was way exceeding any mortgage repayments

I find it disgusting that people expect others to cover their short term costs and make them a very healthy long term profit

I find the lack of social housing disgusting- it acted as a rent stabliliser and a safety net when we had it

I own my own home but I still care .

However no one listens to the like of me either as I don't put profit before people , I don't put GDP before the GB pubic

GalesThisMorning · 14/10/2022 08:00

SeasonFinale · 14/10/2022 07:54

The reality is as soon as rent limitations would come in there would be less rental property available because not all landlords can subsidise the renter by having a low rental income. Fewer rental properties increases demand and inflates the rent.

Or, move away from amateur landlords and have it be professionalised. Not all renters can subsidise another person's mortgage, either. When landlords are that precariously balanced it's a problem. They shouldn't be in the market, I think landlords should be a mixture of corporations and councils. Amateur landlords don't seem to work well. For anyone

RewildingAmbridge · 14/10/2022 08:01

@Upthebracket22 did you completely miss my point? I didn't say anything about avocados. We bought our house in 2016 not the seventies. We both worked two jobs for years and put off having children and settled with one. My point is home owners haven't had it easy either. My mortgage might be less than adjacent rent but I had to save a 15% deposit first, plus legal fees etc. Also when our boiler blew up we didn't call the landlord we had to find the thousands to replace it. Add in the maintenance and other costs and it doesn't cost less than renting, unless you live somewhere with very cheap property. Which rules out most of the south East.

Emeraldgreenjewel · 14/10/2022 08:02

Upthebracket22 · 14/10/2022 07:57

@RewildingAmbridge your point just reinforces the ‘move to a cheaper area’ nonsense. We both have professional careers but can’t buy because housing is too expensive. We haven’t eaten too many avocados or bought too many lattes. HOUSING IS TOO EXPENSIVE for normal people now.

Bit contentious but it isn’t, because people are buying.

I don’t disagree with the premise of your post but I do disagree with this part.

silentpool · 14/10/2022 08:03

Yep, you aren't wrong. My rent is going up. Real estate agent was like, Everything is going up. I said, Except wages. I plan to get my ducks in a row to buy.

Lunar270 · 14/10/2022 08:04

GalesThisMorning · 14/10/2022 07:56

I grew up in a country where renting is really common. Amateur or accidental renters are less common though, and most of the rental property is owned by corporate interests like pension funds etc. They are better able to weather a storm without the immediate fear of having to sell or raise rents to crazy levels. They know the laws, have no emotional investment in the property, are able to budget for maintenance etc etc... Its a much better system

But only if the regulation is there to ensure the quality of housing is high.

Here in the UK, the general standard of corporate owned and council housing is dire. You can't then expect private landlords to offer better, so is down to people's morals.

The ONLY thing corporates are interested in is profit and short term gain.

The system needs an overhaul but no government is interested.