Lots of Landlords are selling up!!

[PassingStranger]

Where is everyone going to live who can't afford to buy?

Alot of landlords are selling. Can't be bothered with all the hassle now.
People aren't paying rent and also trashing houses when they do and costing the owners lots of money to put things right.
On TikTok people are being told to trash houses. [Society gone downhill]

I know there are good tenants, but there are alot of bad ones. Family member works for estate agent and says there are more bad tenants than landlords.

You can trash a house and walk away. Nobody ever gets done for criminal damage on private rents.
There is no register of bad tenants legally allowed either. It's all left to the landlord to sort out at their expense.

Where is all the housing going to come from?
The government donthave enough.
People who are trashing houses and not paying rent are actually spoiling it for everyone..
Alot of lls are selling up now.

I it used to be a good business (especially if you did the properties up yourself). Now with tax changes and lack of ability to enforce rent or other tenancy terms, it isn’t. That’s why landlords (including me) are selling up.

We had a tenant who must have spent the whole last week of his occupancy shitting in the bath and wiping it on the walls ( nearly 2years for the courts to deal with the case at a cost in fees to us of £15,000, not including lost rent and damage )
I had to pay some clearance guys and cleaners to deal with it. The smell made us wretch and I bought us all hasmat type suits just to go in the property.

OP, what makes you think that more landlords than normal are selling up at the moment? Is it anecdotal or have recent figures been published?

This.

LL used to rape in the cash at a high percentage return for little effort. Theu now should have basic standards in the rental property. Many don't appear to like that.

If lots sell then property prices will fall and more people can enter the market.

The houses are always a state when you move in. You have to spend a day disposing of drug paraphernalia and scrubbing shit off the toilet before you move in. While you're there the place is riddled with damp, disgusting ancient carpets, rotting window frames. You aren't allowed to fix anything yourself and they won't fix anything unless it's life threatening or a security issue. The estate agent tells you the landlord is "great" because they do the bare minimum of fixing a broken central heating system after a month on the middle of winter when you have a 4 month old baby in the house. Then they try to keep your deposit when you leave because you didn't clean the oven that had been broken for 6 months.

The system needs a massive overhaul.

They did it in Russia in 1917 - and see how well that worked out!!!!!

Well, plenty of bodies have the ability to apply for compulsory purchase, but that's not what I said, please don't make things up.

There are other ways to free up those properties.

Agree
Plus it was a good way of planning for retirement
Its just not anymore
So…….moving on

Of course nothing is risk free but it’s unworkable if you can’t enforce the basic terms of the lease in court in a reasonable time. That’s why the shortage of rental properties is getting worse and worse. There are simply no consequences if the tenant doesn’t pay.

Silly comment really! Landlords are there to provide a service! If its not stable or profitable why would anyone want to do it!🤷‍♂️

Washing machine costs £200 if not less, including installation.

Same for everything else.

Shameless.

The court system is generally broken. It's pretty rubbish if you wait 2 years for someone accused of rape to get justice too. This issue is a result of Tory cuts and not specific to the rental sector

I have a btl (my former home which I rented out when I bought with my now husband as the market had fallen at the time)

I will sell when my current tennant passes on - he is in his 70s on benefits and the only way he will leave will be in a box - I could have sold years ago before they changed the tax rules but I couldn't ask him to leave - he has been there since 2009 (so only tenant I have ever had) and has nowhere else who would charge him as little rent - I have increased it 3x in that time period the last time was 3 years ago

I have no intention of renting it out to anyone else though.

I’ve been both a renter and a landlord and I don’t recognize any of that. One of my tenants did leave a disgusting mess but I spent thousands having the property renovated even though I was in debt from the tenant refusing to pay (they were getting uc housing element but keeping it for themselves).

@Dollydaydream100

High levels of homelessness are an absolute boon for landlords - it's why there's a market for disgusting, overpriced, poorly managed properties in urban areas.

Can you think of any other reasons why we have such a problem in the UK? What about high levels of second home ownership? What about the sale of vast swathes of social housing - Thatcher's ideologically driven policy to increase the number of working class Tory voters? What about our absolutely stupid planning laws that gives NIMBYs the power to object to and often stop small developments not backed by big housing companies?

You might also want to acknowledge that housing is unaffordable across the whole of the SE and SW, including in areas with very low numbers of immigrants.

You’ve just mentioned some private companies (and one public company) that have the assumption that the price of food has to cover property costs, tax, employees and a sizeable profit… so not so different.

The reason large corporates aren’t in the residential rental market is because it’s a lot of hassle and not very profitable.

Well there's a lot of HMO's popping up where I live. A lot of rascist opinions on local news sites assuming they are for immigrants who come over on boats. Even though our ethnic minority is tiny here and most work at the hospital takeaways or own businesses. They are mainly used by contractors working in the area.

@mondaytosunday it’s well publicised that some banks, boots and John Lewis have gone into the rental market…

It is true yes that the court system is broken. It’s not specific to the rental sector but it is one of the factors which is destroying the sector.

Well, exactly. That's what we're discussing, the ramifications of LL's selling up....

The ones suffering the fallout won't be the LL's who can just sell their properties and pocket any profit.

I don't think some on here "get it".

Never mind the WATER companies 😲

Because there's no real money in it. One bad tenant can easily wipe out a small fortune in profits. And it's a massive capital investment.

Yes, if you use your reading skills (?) you'll see that I made several points about the reasons for lack of housing - not just immigration.

Try harder.

We sold our BTL. Too much hassle with all the changes that came through over past few years so we are happier.

New owner, private company, has purchased lots from smaller landlords. Lots of rules for tenants to follow. Rents are up as the company has wages to pay and profits to make.

A friend still has second property but now only does holiday lettings / air bnb. She does use property herself about every 6 weeks.

The other poster is correct you don’t get full deduction for interest charges and you don’t get deductions for capital payments. Once you take out interest charges you could still be paying tax on your ‘profits’ for what is effectively a loss. It’s a very outdated view by renters that they are paying off their landlords mortgages - it just isn’t true!