To think people who own multiple homes have helped drive house prices out of reach?

[OneRoofIsEnough]

I’m not saying they’re the only reason but I do think anyone who owns more than one residential property has played some part in pushing prices up over the last few decades.
When housing is treated as an investment vehicle rather than shelter, demand increases, supply tightens and first-time buyers lose out. Over time, that has made home ownership unaffordable for huge numbers of people.

AIBU to think this isn’t just “the market”, it’s a collective outcome created by individual choices?

There are some parts of the country where, for example, the demand for houses to buy is mainly for bungalows as the population ages. A typical family 3 bed terraced house is much harder to sell in those areas.

We know one area where there are many second homes that are now for sale, relatively inexpensive, but even so there is just no interest. In many cases they were bought very cheaply thirty years ago or so, because they needed a lot of work but there were no local buyers interested. There's not much work in the area except in the holiday season either, and most young people prefer to move away if they can.

Define "far more bedrooms than you need". Would one spare bedroom be acceptable under your rules? Two? Three?

I agree. But also the previous Conservative gov have propped up the market rather than letting it do its own thing.

If house prices were "out of reach" there would be 100's maybe even thousands of unsold houses around because people couldn't afford them. There aren't, so houses are not "out of reach", there are probably just people who are prepared to spend more on a house than you..

It's quite obvious. They are to blame for high rents too.

I suggest reading

https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-property-lobby

Owning multiple houses should be illegal. As should owning a home with far more bedrooms than you need.

OMG, an awful scenario into the future.....

Soviet style checking on the people. Fuck no!

Interestingly, I know someone living here from - old times - East Berlin.

She paid 10 Euros a month then for her apartment. 😮

Wonder why she fled as soon as the Berlin Wall came down....

I agree it's disgusting that a basic roof over your head - 2026 - should not be a capitalist venture! It's truly a disgrace!

Yea, but Fuck! We live in a capitalist world.

I know someone - not UK - who bought a flat for 30 thousand - old building, small, basic.

Living room, bedroom, tiny kitchen and bathroom, solo mum and kid, had to brush their teeth in the kitchen sink.

Now going for a million. Obviously upgraded, but still disgusting.

Oh, not the same people by the way, same location area.

Some people need the flexibility of renting. Some areas benefit from holiday cottages creating jobs in the tourist industry. Who do you suggest should own these houses instead of private individuals? Large multinational corporations?

Back in the 20th century house prices were far more affordable, yet second homes were bought and owned without punitive stamp duty rates or double council tax. No one worried. This is because second home ownership is not a significant factor in house prices.

Instead, the amount banks will lend and the rate they lend at are the biggest factors. This is followed by the fact that we allow the top end of our housing market to be at by what the international elite can afford to pay for the most desirable properties, pushing the people who live in the uk and pay taxes here, would otherwise buy those houses, down a few rungs on the housing ladder. This has a trickle down effect.

Rents are astronomical & people struggle to save the large deposits whilst simultaneously renting.

If you want rents to come down you need more landlords not fewer. If you want prices to come down then you need fewer landlords - but tenants will be screwed and rents will go up. Either way, landlords aren’t either heros or villains.

The main reason government doesn’t build social housing any more is the numbers don’t work. Construction costs and interest rates have both gone up so much that social rents don’t cover the cost of debt needed to finance construction.

What about companies that literally own thousands of properties ... mainly Chinese money.

The problem goes back to the Thatcher government which sold council houses at cheaper prices than they could be built.

In areas like London, second (or vacant) homes are a huge problem, but the shortage of affordable housing is happening almost everywhere.

They sold them with no intention of replacing them. Thatcher hated the idea of the state providing anything.

Yes

Owners of Airbnb and holiday homes definitely contribute to the problem. They buy up smaller cottages that lie empty for much of the year, depriving locals of much needed housing stock and driving up prices. Cornwall is a prime example.

That would be ridiculous. I'd never be able to see my family if they didn't have spare bedrooms for me and the kids to stay in.

And the councils couldn't spend the money they got from selling on building more housing.

I expect I'll be pilloried for saying this, but second home owners in many areas use the local shops and businesses and put money into the local economy. I know that there are some areas, totally dependent on the tourist industry, where virtually all the second homes are on the market now and nobody is even remotely interested in buying there - at any price. And before people tell me that prices are unrealistic, some sellers would actually be making very little profit on their properties at all.
One other thing worth saying is that some families don't take foreign holidays but stay in their second homes regularly instead, using local shops and businesses rather than spending thousands of pounds abroad once or twice a year. Many have to live in flats or small properties in urban areas for work, but live in their second homes when they can.

Would you extend this to people living in social housing who have more bedrooms than they need? Families where the children have gone off to college or work but want to come home at weekends or in the holidays? I'm sure than many of us know of people living alone in 3 or 4 bedroom family social housing when their children have moved on and their partner has died.

Well yes. There wouldn't be a private rental market if there wasn't multiple homeowners out there.

For a long time the rental market was a great way for landlords to make a lot of money. The government have only just started to put things in place to make it not as lucrative. But I would say since the 90s private landlords have had a good 25-30 years to build portfolios without having to pay much tax for the privilege.

Will the selling off of council homes and not enough new ones built, the private landlords have made more and more money.

I once had a spat with someone on a local page who was ranting that her adult children couldn't afford to buy in our town. I asked if she would be willing to sell her home below market value to enable such a transaction and she went mad!

A few comments later and it transpired she also had a second home in a popular tourist town which they used a couple of times a year. She refused to acknowledge that she had taken a home from a local there.

None so blind....

Individual property developers don't help, they have the cash ready to buy a doer upper and flip for huge profit.