To think rents are going up because of insane levels of demand and not billionaires buying all the houses?

[BlueJuniper94]

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the billionaires, and I don't like them owning all the houses. But the main reason rents are rising like this is because we simply have too many people looking for housing than we have (or are building) houses for.

Well what the fuck do people think will happen if our population rises by near on 1 million a year? Are they stupid? The results will be a shortage of housing; more air pollution; less food sustainability; more pressure on services; and greater energy needs. You can’t ‘Jeremy Corbyn’ your way out of that, it’s a physical impossibility. Why is everyone so thick and wilfully ignorant?

Divorce- has also driven the need for more family homes. There's less generational living also increasing the need for more homes. Was mentioned earlier young adults are moving out of family homes before they would have done when I was young unless it was needed due to work.

All these things add to the demand for more homes. I'm not a boomer I'm not quite that old but when I was first flat hunting it was all bedsits, frequently with a shared bathroom- it really was 1 room with a very basic kitchen added. Housing was overcrowded, you'd have a family with say 4 children in a 3 bed house. People wouldn't accept conditions now that were relatively common then.

Those bedsits would probably only house about a 3rd of the people now due to needing better kitchens and own bathrooms. Yes much better quality of living but it has costs too, higher rent and house prices.

Several factors

1. Net migration into the country is huge, last count 3/4 of million and even accounting that many are migrants bringing families so not all individual housing requirements far exceeds housing being built so demand exceeding supply.
2. The previous and now current govt have waged a campaign of demonisation and taxation against landlord who are responding and selling their housing. So whilst it is not lost to the market, it results in huge pressure on demand for quality rented properties (and most are as most small landlords maintain high quality). Therefore the most vulnerable being those that can’t afford to buy experience the most pressure and as ever with governments, the loss isn’t being replaced by social housing, and even if it was funded, govts are so useless it takes years to provide

so therefore yes you are correct in a way and it is a pretty dire situation. FYI, yes I do have an interest as over the years myself and DH gradually bought a small portfolio of houses that we refurbished and maintained to a high standard. All of our tenants stances for the long term and fair rents and we always responded to repairs and emergencies (rarely happened promptly). Due to the attacks by govts we have gradually sold the houses as they became vacant (I didn’t have the heart to make our lovely tenants homeless) but the latest resented rights bill has just tipped us over the edge, including ridiculous provisions about allowing animals so we have decided to force the issue and issue notices, albeit with 9 months notice. So sad and I know other owners also doing the same and these people are effectively homeless as they cannot afford to buy (yes offered them the opportunity at a large discount) and the local authority won’t help until the day they are evicted. What a state this country is in. I just despair and they just don’t get it

There isn’t a shortage of homes on the ‘to buy market ‘ There is a shortage of houses that people can actually afford to buy in certain areas and certainly a lack of affordable rentals partly due to less people being able to buy -

Why should tenants bear the extortionate cost of heating an energy inefficient hell hole? The sooner those types of properties are banned as rentals the better.

What benefit ia it for people to downsize?, it costs to move

Why don't you explain it then so we can understand it?

Exactly why should the boomers downsize? What do you want us to downsize to? A shed?

I know several elderly people living out of one or two rooms inside houses that are collapsing around them, they're completely neglected and have been for decades, they're completely unable to maintain or deal with their large properties and would have a far better quality of life living somewhere more manageable

You’d ban Victorian terraces as rentals? Are you serious?

We failed to build enough for decades - and poltical concenus we had at one point to build more went in 80s.

We are not the only country with housing crisis - Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Germany and parts of the US.

Everyone focuses on immigration, but I’d have thought pressure also comes from people living longer, and higher rates of divorce or people never cohabiting in the first place, which will create more households

This is very true household have got smaller over time.

I'm in favour of bringing the deadline for a required minimum EPC rating of C forward for all rental properties with no exceptions. I'm not interested in whether it a 'Victorian terrace' or any other type of property.

That tends to happen in 70 when people' health and financies decline as is a slow build up situation - but most people aren't up for moving at that point in their lives till they have little choice - it's too much

When peopel look brefore retriement or just after they find costs and risks - and they often want the "extra" space often downstairs becuase they are spening more time than ever before in their property.

Young people are staying at home longer now because they can’t afford to rent or buy their own home. Our 2 adult DC are still at home because London and SE are so expensive. My DH and I bought our own 3 bed house when we were 22/26 but that impossible here now especially if you’re single.

All homeowners are "greedy" to a certain extent, if they weren't then they'd accept a lower offer which will still be more than they payed for the property in the 1st place. maybe there should be a price cap when it comes to selling up.

I think you’ll need to say more, what is wrong with that statement?

Which is why need incentives to make it worth their while.

Why do we have so many properties unoccupied?

Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 27 October 2023, ONS website, statistical bulletin, Number of vacant and second homes, England and Wales: Census 2021

Then you will find a huge absence of rental properties and people will have to live in hotels or the like as there will be such a shortage. A house doesn’t become a hell hole just because it’s not a new build with a C EPC.

I think you are right OP. Population of the UK is going up by hundreds of thousands every year. There aren’t that many new homes. I think there’s a lot more people living as a single person households which increases demand too. There are so many empty homes. I live in a pretty part of Scotland maybe 10-20% holiday homes.

Lots of empty homes from people going into care and probate houses that sit empty for years. I do think there’s a lot councils should have more abilities about getting homes back into use. Probate backlog should be dealt with and perhaps make it possible to sell house quickly in straightforward cases.

A house doesn't need to be a 'new build' to have an EPC rating of C.

No but a lot of perfectly fine houses have a lower rating than C and they’re not hell holes by any stretch of the imagination.

Near me a planning permission has been submitted for yet another retirement village. Not social housing. Not homes for young families. But one more retirement complex of which there are at least six nearby. Many of these are half empty. So why the rush to build more? Do these have tax advantages? Do they get subsidies? It’s a mystery.

But the prices are high due to demand!

Being a landlord is not what it was. If you get a bad tenant you risk a great deal of damage to your own mental health. I have rented and even commercial property they’re some absolute moron tenants about. I would rather leave for storage than deal with some of these irresponsible people. I think there’s a lot more irresponsible people than there was 20/30 years ago.

I am sick of death of people moaning about Landlords and don’t want to pay their rent or even look after a property.