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

[Upthebracket22]

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.

Average wage is around £38,000.

Its true that single people struggle massively but that’s true when renting too.

Honestly some of the comments on here do really reflect the utter patronising nonsense that renters have to put up with.

yes I am sure there are some people who can buy because they moved- but a lot of us can’t move and can’t raise a deposit and are struggling with large rental increases and can’t get on the ladder.

The housing market is broken no matter how many landlords come on here to argue that it isn’t.

And honestly; I am not unusual either as a professional person renting.

Oh and it's not true that no one discusses high private rents.

Having worked in the social housing sector for almost 25 years I can promise you it is discussed. We have had nationwide conferences where its discussed, Shelter have lobbied the govt more than once about it, I've been in forums and discussion groups where its discussed and social housing is struggling to pick up the slack when these rental prices price people out of

*homes

If repossessions happen at the level they did in the 80s, all the rich landlords will buy the houses cheap and STILL charge high rents as they'll have a higher interest rate mortgage even on a cheap house.

This is the point people hoping for a price crash miss. If prices crash mortgage lenders will be more strict and people will still find it hard to buy their first home. They will need a bigger % deposit (albeit of a smaller overall value) and pay higher interest rates (even if BoE interest rates come down) because a falling housing market is a bad risk for the mortgage provider.

The market will swing massively in favour of cash buyers. This usually means those who are buying to let (I don't know anyone who was a first-time buyer who didn't need a mortgage).

Stop being so patronising. Just because a PP doesnt agree with you.

Everyone has agreed that rental prices are high, why are you responding in such a belittling manner??

I’m certainly not trying to patronise.

But I do think one of the problems are when people in a position of disadvantage (and renting is) are presented as innocent victims of a tide of unfortunate circumstances they couldn’t have predicted people do argue with that.

I don’t really know what the answer is otherwise I would be in politics. But there is certainly an issue here.

You should have just practically bankrupted yourself as young buyers in your 20s to buy an overpriced 1 bed before having children- it’s how most people get on the property ladder after all 🤷🏼‍♀️

a lot of us can’t move and can’t raise a deposit and are struggling with large rental increases and can’t get on the ladder.

The whole system is broken or at least not fitting with your expectations. It's wrong to think of it being a problem the housing market alone. The bigger picture is what you should be focused on. Your assumption is that "normal" people "should" be able to afford to buy a home where they rent. That's a nice idea and perfectly reasonable but is not compatible with the system as a whole. The country and world generally works on the basis that those who can afford things have them and those who can't don't.

Alternatives like communism have been tried and failed because of the human element. When people are involved in running a governmental or economic system, they will always try to get the best for themselves.

Even you are demonstrating this fact of human nature - you want what is best for you (to be able to afford to buy a home) and aren't particularly concerned about how you getting what you want might cause problems for others.

Personally I think the problem is landlords as a whole. It should not be legal to profit from someone's basic need to have a roof over their head.

I agree with you op and I’ve been a home owner since leaving university in 1999 until now (just sold).

My dh grew up in rented apartments in Europe, my in-laws still rent but it’s much better regulated there.

@MooseAndSquirrelLoveFlannel eh? I am responding to comments - there are always the ‘well I just don’t understand why you can’t afford a house on your wage’ comments on here & it’s a basic lack of understanding of how bad things are for renters at the moment

Surely the best thing is, if possible, not to rent but to save, save and save to be able to buy somewhere. Start with a flat and work up if need be.

Once you start renting unless you earn a pretty good wage it is, obviously, far more difficult to save enough for a deposit.

Area does make a big difference. I live near Lincoln and houses are much much cheaper here than where I lived before in Essex.

@Dotjones not at all. I said in an earlier comment that I don’t mind renting if it wasn’t such a shit show.

Where do you live while you’re saving to buy your first flat then?

I mean, I don’t really understand your point, it’s not one or the other. Ultimately you just seem bitter and gleeful and at the prospect of ‘sticking it’ to those with mortgages because you feel you have missed out.
Here’s the thing though, you don’t actually benefit from over night tripling of interest rates just because you don’t have a mortgage. The landlords mortgage will also go up, therefore increasing your rent. Rent is directly linked to mortgage rates at a minimum of 125%.
With mortgage rates going up so quickly and sharply the rental sector will shrink, therefore rents will be even less competitive as rented properties will become rarer.
A drop in housing purchase price due to high interest will not make it any easier for you to buy with a low deposit.

I’m supportive of many things that improve renting, from landlord licenses, regular inspections (although some tenants don’t like this but I personally think it is needed to avoid slum housing, and secure longer term contracts. That doesn’t mean I’m rubbing my hands at the thought of mortgage payments increasing by literally 100s over night for many people.

Well said OP.

@Dotjones Personally I think the problem is landlords as a whole. It should not be legal to profit from someone's basic need to have a roof over their head.

Where do you draw the line though? If there legally couldn’t be any profit there is no incentive to provide ‘nicer’ higher end accommodation.
Why is housing so sacrosanct but food and water isn’t for example?
Companies sell food, water, heating for profit too.
I think there are many things that can be built on or implemented to make the rental sector more favourable to tenants but the ‘not for profit’ thing that people regularly spurt out only works in an entirely communist society and isn’t something that is workable given how the UK works at the minute.

@luxxlisbon sigh. I assume you don’t rent in the U.K. at the moment do you?

and I stated in my post that I don’t want people to struggle.

@luxxlisbon are you a landlord? And I think quite a lot of people in the U.K. world like to see energy and water renationalised too.
You draw the line at making sure everyone has a safe roof over their head.

Not all rental properties have been increasing rents frequently
ex DP rents and over 10 years it’s gone up around 1.5% per year
another friend has just had the first increase in 8 years
the highest rents tend to be for HMO and/or in student areas
the biggest worry with rentals for most people I know is the fear of their landlords selling up and not being able to find or afford somewhere
Lack of council and housing association properties is a huge factor
3 year plus wait and then you only have a chance if you have children, or are classed as vulnerable in some way

I’m not a landlord, no.
I’ve no idea why you would even try and jump to that when I listed many pro-tenant policies I support or would like to see implemented.

Personally I’m for nationalising energy and water, although there doesn’t actually seem to be a huge appetite for that in the UK considering all the ‘looney leftie’ rhetoric that comes to when it’s mentioned, it’s impossible to have a sensible discussion about it.
I have nothing against a council rental sector and think it should be massively expanded. Personally I think the only flaw in rent to buy was not regenerating the housing stock. It’s actually a net benefit for everyone when families can eventually buy their council home, long term it reduces their reliance on the state and gives them security.

Would you propose every business manufacturing or selling food be nationalised too though? Or are we only protecting roofs over peoples head but not nutrition?

I’m simply making the point that it isn’t one of the other. Society needs balance. Renters need to be protected, people locked into mortgages need to be protected. I don’t understand what is so inflammatory about that statement that you leap to me being a landlord because I just obviously be on the ‘other side’.
You are just being naive to think huge interest rates and a potential collapse of the housing market does anything to benefit you, it doesn’t, it makes you worse off. By looking gleefully towards it, you are simply going against your own best interest.

@luxxlisbon i’m really not gleeful

But few of them care. And when mortgage costs were low, rent was still rising and rising.

I agree and disagree to an extent.

I used to work in private rental management and managed over 100 properties. Didn't see the rent price increase on any of those in the entire time I worked there (always advised landlords if they had a good tenant it wasn't worth increasing price and potentially losing them).
Adding to that, in Scotland there have been many legislation passed which protectors renters from being evicted (even in reasonable grounds where it's required). The legislation landlords need to follow to keep housing up to date is strict, the repairing standard means that tenants don't need to worry about any structural issues with the property or plumbing etc that you would have to pay for if you owned a house

Now don't get me wrong I'm fully aware there are many rogue landlords out there who don't follow this, but the law is that they have to so tenants can take free legal action

Honestly there are unfair parts all over the board