To not feel sorry for landlords?

[CuriouslyMinded]

Honestly, so many people seem to have Buy To Let mortgages that they can't really afford and I can't help but think that if the interest rates are making life that difficult that they're struggling to feed their kids or whatever the latest headline is, then they should just sell their extra properties. There are first time buyers are desperate to get on the ladder for one thing, and also tenants don't deserve to have their rent increased by cash strapped landlords, and no one really needs to own more than one home. It's just so greedy. I don't feel sorry for them at all. I do appreciate that tenants need somewhere to live and not everyone can afford to buy, but part of the reason it is so difficult to buy a home is because so many people have overstretched themselves to own multiple properties that they don't even take care of half the time. The whole system is flawed and awful. Rant over!

@Splendour I honestly think that the system is bad for both parties and the only ones who win are estate agents that charge ridiculous fees. If it was a good business then there wouldn’t be a massive shortage of available rental properties. And with more properties available, rent would go down for tenants. After my experience I’d never ever opt to be a landlord for business reasons.

There should be more social housing built, and rent controls.

Play with your lives? They are providing you with a home. They are assuming all of the risks of ownership. You could be playing with their lives.

Are there paying tenants in this property that needs work doing to make it safe/mortgageable? Is it a fire hazard already? If so I'm pretty sure this is exactly the sort of thing landlords get berated for.

Not at all sure why people who rent houses out are so hated. Don't get it at all.

We don't hate farmers for selling is essential food and making a profit. We don't hate boots for selling is essential drugs and making a profit. We don't hate supermarkets for making a profit on essential food. Just not really sure why landlords take such a kicking?

The currently mad tax system on landlords now incentivises them to rent out home as Airbnb not homes - the public hatred of landlords has resulted in more Airbnbs and less rental property. What next hatred for Airbnbs? Perhaps tents in farmers field are profiteering and need banning.

Can someone explain to me why landlords are hated so much? How are they different from other profit motivated people providing essential goods and services?

The houses would still exist though. Landlords aren’t really creating anything of net benefit to society.

It’s just an investment, same as shares. I don’t feel sorry for people when the stock market crashes either.

Like a pp said they're not actually providing anything. Not a service, not an object, not anything really. They just own stuff and charge other people money because they own it

Plus, UK being what it is ie very unequal, a substantial chunk of people have experience of renting long term here ie renting long term in a pretty unregulated environment and all the nasty crap that goes with that. When you've had experience of nasty crap in regard to the roof over your head you do get jaded. I'm sure landlords will get over any online hostility directed at them. They can always count their cash if they're feeling blue. The transient dispossessed cohort they get money from, not so much.

The kind of knuckle-dragging reply you’d expect when someone does actually make a valid point 🙄

Private landlords are necessary, like it or not. Just try not to be as much of a twat about it 😊

yanbu, they should get a proper job and contribute to society

The currently mad tax system on landlords now incentivises them to rent out home as Airbnb not homes - the public hatred of landlords has resulted in more Airbnbs and less rental property.

Why would anyone in their right mind get into BTL with all the pitfalls, voids, compliance and obligations when you can Airbnb for 4x your annual rental income!

The irony is that soon it won’t be a small time landlords with one or two properties people will be renting from, It’ll be faceless hedge funds. Or the likes of John Lewis who’ve now started dabbling in build to rent. Whatever happens there’s zero chance of first time buyers snapping up cheap properties without the banks opening up lending criteria, but banks have no incentive to do so. Far more money is made from BTL landlords than homeowners over the lifetime of a mortgage. Without wanting to sound like a conspiracy theorist, the state of the U.K. housing market is very deliberate and it’s not solely the fault of BTL landlords.

Not at all sure why people who rent houses out are so hated. Don't get it at all

because mn don't like anyone owning more than one home. I presume people think I'd LL got rid of their extra home it would go to a poorer person, but in actual fact it would just go on the market at market rate. You could have have 300k in the bank, just don't own a house. My mums probate house is sitting empty right now until we get round to clearing it. It's the same thing, I currently own two houses. Ones empty but that deemed better and I'm less evil.

Where should she go instead?
Can she afford to buy?
Are there smaller council properties available?
(Private landlords are evil and should not exist, so that is out).
IME you can't lump all landlords together. In Croydon, for example, the council is the worst landlord by a long way. Their council accommodation isn't fit for human habitation. I expect a lot of elderly council tenants are fearful of change.

So a house is not an object and a clean safe home is not a service either? So what do hotels do? I dont really follow your logic. How do you feel about people that rent out shops, factories and offices? What is the difference between what they do and someone who rents out different buildings like a house or apartment?

So when someone ensures a building is well maintained, decorated with multiple legal and safety checks and repair work it's not a service or an object? What is it then?

Surely if they just owned stuff there would be no maintenance, no decoration, no safety checks, no repairs?

How is it unregulated? I think there are quite strong regulations aren't there? Aren't safety checks, contracts, deposit protection, notice periods, building insurance etc required? I think local authorities also inspect homes which are rented out too.

Can you explain what aspect is unregulated?

If there were no landlords being a student would be a bit of a bummer.

It’s not a LL fault that tenants cannot get mortgages to buy their own homes! I used to let out a house I inherited but have since sold it as I had a huge problem with various tenants, it’s hard work being a LL unless you get the right tenants

One of the leaseholders in our building is also a landlord. He is also the one person who has paid none of his service charge this year. And that is preventing urgent repairs being done on the roof, which is damaging the flat of another leaseholder. There are other other examples of his dishonesty and selfishness, but that's the worst.

Landlord here with 2 very hard earned properties, selling up.

Some of these very narrow views expressed here are one reason why, I'm sick of being slated.

Another is that I no longer want the stress of maintaining property at a lower rent than I could charge, for tenants who take it all for granted and expect more, I've had it with feeling responsible for housing others, making sure standards are what I expect for myself.

Yet another reduction in available rental property. Though hopefully a family will get their own home.

I don’t feel sorry for them exactly no but I won’t paint them as villains. People who haven’t bought a house need to live somewhere and not everyone wants to live in social housing.

We have one rental flat which we re-let several months before interest rates started shooting up, or such rises were anticipated, and even then rents locally had recently risen by a lot more than usual. Personally I could only put it down to ‘because they can’.

For the initial years of letting it we had used an agent who urged me every time a contract was renewed to whack the rent up. Since we had very good tenants we wanted to keep, I declined, and we eventually ditched the agent altogether anyway, for general incompetence.

It’s worth mentioning that not all LLs by any means have mortgages anyway, and even if they do, properties may well have been bought when prices were considerably lower.

So no, I don’t feel sorry for LLs at all.

Might add that the term ‘accidental landlord’ really irritates me. There’s nothing ‘accidental’ about a decision almost always made because it made financial sense at the time.

Little sympathy for the ones with mortgages who are complaining about how hard done by they are in particular. You're running a business on other people's money. Don't expect an automatic return.

Or the ones who are appalled that for an income of thousands of pounds a year they might occasionally have to do something.

Most rental properties I've been in are in an appalling state, not something you'd ever want as an owner-occupier. If you had the same in e.g. a hotel you'd be generous to give a 2* review.

Landlords who are seriously committed to running a business that respects its customers, fine. Plenty aren't like that.

This a massive issue atm is supply! All properties round here go up and straight away say “fully booked for viewings” I’ve had friends take months to find somewhere and have to write applications explaining why they should have the property is all madness.

Issues - Gordon Brown taxing pensions making it more difficult to save for retirement, mass immigration and Air BnB. Council don’t have money to build council houses, see Birmingham council which has just gone bankrupt, also Liverpool, Croydon etc

I am not a Landlord but no I don’t simply hate them. There are awful Landlord and tenants and great Landlords and tenants.

DS and his GF are moving in together next year and looking to rent for a year or two before buying. It is ridiculous to buy a property together having never tried living together first. You can love someone as much as you like but it doesn’t mean you can live together. There is always a need for rental housing. I moved around a lot due to my career when young, relocating to 3 major cities, I needed to rent.

@SpaceRaiders I have read about banks and large conglomerates buying up rental housing. I much preferred dealing directly with my Landlords.

@Phos I suppose people that will never buy housing want the security of social housing.

Of course people have a right to own more than one home.

I don't want to buy. I also do not need to take a social housing house off of someone else.

The private rental market is very much needed!