Renters getting shafted yet again

[Upthebracket22]

I know this might be just noise but Ed Davey is proposing that mortgage holders get £300 a month grants!

www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/06/lib-dem-leader-ed-davey-proposes-300-a-month-mortgage-grants

I mean WTF? What about private renters who get shafted by landlords with huge annual rent rises! Do renters get a £300 a month grant?

Absolutely fucking shocking to be honest! (And clearly not really viable as it will feed even more into inflation)

It’s just a vote buying exercise and will be funded by taxing the banks. Not that it’s ever going to happen anyway.

I don’t understand why “paying your landlord mortgage” is seen as such a terrible thing? If landlords all decided that no, fuck it, we’re not going to rent out our homes anymore what would renters do then?! I rented for years before buying property and then becoming a landlord myself.

I agree, completely ridiculous to support mortgage holders - never going to happen but tone deaf/ thoughtless all the same.

I predicted this outcry from renters on another thread yesterday. It set one poster off on a massive rant about how anyone that objects to help for mortgage payers is a lazy idiot. I imagine she'll be along shortly to put you all right.

Well, if / when the housing market crashes, there will be a lot more people needing homes to rent.

With the current state of the housing market, trying to keep people with mortgages in their own homes looks like a good idea on paper...
Reality is, it won't happen unless the money is repaired at a later date.

Panic over.

I didn't know this, thank you for pointing it out (it doesn't affect me but always good to have a fuller understanding of the situation)

And where would this magic money come from?
Services that are already on the bones of their arses?
From the poor who were already on the bones of their arses before this crisis?
Education, health care, policing, prisons?

I think my point is that most renters know what it’s like to absorb large rent rises. But no one ever wants to bail renters out do they. Despite there being millions of renters in the uk.

@ihatethefuckingmuffin and yes definitely. You could argue there are a lot of other more pressing issues than bailing out mortgage holders…

I agree, @mumda, but that's because the Tories have refused to raise LHA rates to reflect rising rents.

Imo rents should be controlled anyway, like they are in much of Europe, and like they used to be back in the days of secure tenancies.

The ability to own more than one property is one of the reasons why we are in the absurd rental situation.

Right to buy was the beginning of the downfall.

@ihatethefuckingmuffin it was and it should be ended. Buy to let should also be stopped. No one needs more than one house frankly when millions of families live in Victorian conditions. Secure, safe housing is a human right.

I meant that if any thing breaks in a rented house, a boiler for example, then its down to landlords to pay. Whereas homeowners need to stump out a lot of money for it (even with insurance).
At the moment I don't think anybody is in a position to say 'renters are so hard done by' just as much as people saying 'homeowners are so hard done by' because the reality is most people in the uk are now struggling to afford to live with all the price increases that are happening. If the government can offer help to anybody then surely it's a good thing rather than a chance for everybody else to say 'that's not fair to help them, help me instead'

If mortgages increase by a huge amount, landlords will offload their properties and there will be no private rentals to be had.

I rented privately for many years, and a glance at Rightmove now shows that there is already much less choice than there was ten years ago when I was a tenant. I never understand the level of hatred towards landlords. When the market makes it worth their while, it's surely more competitive and tenants get more choice.

It’s a Lib Dem policy, it’s all total pie in the sky.

@ohnoohnoo well yes but in that vein, renters should also get a £300 monthly grant. That’s my point!

it’s not true that renters all get housing benefit - it’s means tested.

@glamourousindierockandroll if landlords get rid of their properties, more people might be able to buy without the competition of cash rich BTL landlords with multiple properties. It’s a good thing.

Far be it from me to credit the Tories with any intelligence, but they know it's unaffordable. Davey can say anything he likes because there is zero chance of him ever having to deliver on it.

If you elect me as PM I'll ensure full employment, fabulous wages, and 67 days statutory annual leave, and wages for SAHMs..

I actually think a fairer solution would be for mortgage interest to be treated in the same way as rental payments for UC etc.

House prices need to correct.

We can either continue to fuel the ponzi with schemes like this, sucking in more and more young people from future generations and ensuring when the final bust comes it is even bigger than what we might get now or we can take the pain now.

Help should be available, but only to prevent people being removed from their houses, the absolute minimal support necessary and probably should take the form of a government equity stake rather than a cash no strings attached handout.

We need a 30% market correction in prices absolute minimum.

But I don't think he's saying that all mortgage holders would get this either.

I don't agree with it as a policy either but you aren't fairly representing what he's said.

My point was that I think the government need to try and help in any way they can. If this is their suggestion, which would help a lot of people, Then surely it's selfish to say that they don't need it and it should be given to you instead. Anybody could, and normally do, say that for everything in life and it just makes people bitter. People shouldn't begrudge other people getting help.

@Upthebracket22 perhaps.

I disagree - i think it will be the big landlords who can afford to buy outright who will benefit most of all, and those families who rent out one house that means a lot to them and have an interest in maintaining will have to sell up.

Big companies don't need mortgages, so this won't affect them like small landlords.

I believe there's a 39 week waiting period and then it's limited to interest only and restricted for how long it can be claimed, unlike UC housing element or legacy housing benefit which can be claimed and paid almost immediately in comparison, and is restricted to the Local Housing Allowance.

I'm a homeowner and I do think that is ridiculous. Why not bring back tax relief on mortgage interest payments for a single primary residence instead? I am fortunate to have a low fixed rate for another couple of years so would get less help than someone on a higher rate. Blanket lump sums are not a fair way of doing it