To think landlords who own multiple properties are part of the housing crisis?

[ByArtfulOliveDuck]

Is it unreasonable to say that having a portfolio of rental homes is unethical in a housing shortage?

Fully appreciate that. A tourist area is always going to be more expensive.
The area where I live is not where either of my parents were from. It was where they could afford when they started out (I'm in my 50s so we're talking late 60s when they moved to the area) they made it their home and it became our family home and i still live in the same area.
Moving areas to suit a budget is nothing new.

Different requirements in different areas. They are building loads of swanky student accommodation near us in the hope it will release hmo's back into the market for family homes, whether rented or bought.

2 bed brand new council house in my area is £560, same property HA £760

2 bed private house rental nothing under £1000 within a 8 mile radius

supply and demand means that the private landlord can set a much high price than the council

Actually, many new houses and house refurbishments were built by Eastern European immigrants from places like Poland and Romania who cram into much less square footage per person than the people for whom they are providing housing, so they probably are a net positive for the housing supply to the population even in the short term, and they certainly are a net positive in the long term.

Of course, with Brexit having made many of them feel unwelcome while lowering the value of their wages by tanking the pound, a lot of them have left, reducing the number of skilled workers available to build housing in this country.

The landlords are still supplying homes though, so I am not sure how they are contributing to the housing crisis. Not everyone wants to, or can buy. And not everyone is eligible for social housing. They fill that gap in the middle.

That is not true. Renting conditions are so shit that most people renting would prefer to buy.

My son and his girlfriend had this problem this time last year in London. They could not find anything and after being shown many properties it was down to who the landlord wanted to choose with what incentives they offered!

Maybe the council should charge 1000 as well. Then they can reduce my council tax.

Landlords are lower than lawyers. Lower than traffic wardens.

Scum of the earth

Yep, the rental market is so different now. Back when I rented, you got shown around a place by the letting agent... you said you were interested, and subject to very basic checks, you picked the keys up later on.
Now, you have to apply like you were applying for a job. It took my DP 3 months to find a new place after his sec21 expired. He expressed interest in so many places, and was turned down. He only got his new place because the person offered it was unable to go forward. Apparently, over 30 people were interested.

The myth that LL's buy up all the houses so FTB's can't get one is ludicrous. On Rightmove I can find almost a hundred 2 or 3 bedroom houses within 5 miles of me. FTB's could buy any of those, but they don't. I have a portfolio of 11 houses, 10 of which are let out and one house was bought specifically to do up and needs some minor structural work, once it is completed we will either let or sell it. The reason some people can't get a house is that they either don't have the deposits or don't get paid enough to satisfy income multipliers. If the private rental ceased tomorrow many many families would be homeless because we all know councils don't have enough accommodation to house those who need it. Less LL's are buying new properties to let. The figures have gone down for 5 consecutive years. Now there are often 14 potential tenants chasing each house that comes on to the rental market. More LL's selling up means more rental shortages. LL's will now have to pay 5 percent SDLT in addition to normal levels of SDLT. They were paying an additional 3 percent before RR autumn statement. This will mean more LL's selling at the same time as fewer LL's buying = rent rises. Thank RR for those.

We as a family own multiple properties - started with my folks.

We have long term tenants in (10 plus years), manage them ourselves, keep the rent as low as possible.

Happy to decorate to tenants preferences where possible or let them and assist with materials, redo bathrooms and kitchens frequently as needed, improve heating and insulation when we can to make them cheaper to heat (pops is massively into energy saving etc).

We have the stock as some folks just want affordable rental properties with good landlords and have no interest in buying. One tenant is in my first ever house that I got 30 years ago, we kept when I moved to current house with then DP. He’s now our go to plumber for all properties and has been there for 15 years.

they don’t make us a lot once, the insurance, mortgages, maintenance fund, checks etc are done each year, certainly not something any of us live off.

we aren’t all evil harridans offering mould riddled homes. We’d really like to know about any mould to sort it before it becomes a real issue.

we are aware of some crappy landlords and we always try to help and support folks with advice and their rights etc in those situations.

sorry what was the question… erm… my answer is yes… and no…

I think councils not moving on long term vacant properties is an issue.

I think Airbnb culture and second homes emptying entire communities is a bigger issue.

I have got tenants most of them I've had for years. They had their babies there and they go to the local schools. It's their home. If an occasional house comes up for rent I run credit checks, Check for CCJ'S, ask for 3 months bank statements and pay slips to prove employed. I try my best to check them out properly so to minimise the risk. When a house does come empty I also usually get a recommendation for either their family or friends who want to rent it. Last time I advertised a 3 bedroom terraced house with a yard not a garden the EA got 18 viewings within 3 days and 14 of them wanted to rent it.

I just did a Rightmove search for properties to rent near me. Within a half a mile, there are 2 properties to rent - a 1 bed flat at £1800 per month and a 2 bed terraced house at £1250. Both these are hugely expensive and neither suitable for a family. You’d have to be pretty rich to afford to rent that 1 bed flat, which is situated over someone’s garage.

in contrast, in the same half mile from me, there are 17 properties to buy - ranging from a £160k flat to an £850 house. Something for every budget. First time buyer or forever home.

there are properties to buy.
the rental supply however is now severely depleted.

I live in a very ordinary town.

i really do hate some landlords, but they are not actually the problem I don’t think.

I ask tenants to sign for 6 months, then a year contract before I let it roll over. After 18 months you know if they are looking after the property, not upsetting neighbours and paying the rent on time. Once they prove themselves I let them have a roll over indefinite contract but I can't do that immediately because I don't know how they will be as tenants. Not all tenants are good ones. I've been lucky but I know some LL who have had nightmare tenants and if they cause a lot of damage or refuse to pay rent for months on end the courts are so backed up it can take almost a year to get them out.

Many section 21 are issued because tenants destroy the property or refuse to pay their rent. If the council bought these properties and because the new LL how would that stop the tenants destroying the properties or refusing to pay their rent?

Yes, you’re right - it’s a major contributing factor of a number of interlinked issues. Another is the volume builders being tasked with solving Britain’s housing crisis when it’s not in their interests to flood the market with housing. They release houses like diamonds.

There’s so many issues in our country that it wouldn’t be an easy fix to solve.

I’s recommend watching this

About 80 percent of btl properties not owned outright are on interest only mortgages. If a LL charged the full amount for a repayment mortgage rental prices would sky rocket.

And some are because the landlord either wants to move into the property, or change it's use.
My DP was issued a sec21 because his new landlord wanted to turn his modest 2 bed flat (above a shop) into an HMO.

Doesn't matter how many houses are available to buy I still can't afford a mortgage or deposit perhaps that needs to be looked into as I've rented for 32 years

The rules on HMO are very strict. Surely he'd be only able to rent rooms out to 2 people which wouldn't make more than renting it out as a 2 bedroom flat.

No, he had plans to knock walls through etc, and get more bedrooms out of it.

Before I bought I needed to live somewhere.
Landlords provided that for ten years.

As an aside rents obviously have gone up as landlords can no longer offset the properties mortgage against tax. Plus many landlords have sold up, for the very same tax reason.

There are strict HMO rules about the square footage for a bedroom and the number of people unrelated in the property plus size of shared rooms like kitchen and bathroom.

Surely these landlords are providing homes for people.