To not agree with how some people make their money, specifically landlords and letting agents?

[RealNavyEagle]

I’m not saying every landlord or agent is evil, before anyone jumps in. But I do think there’s something deeply uncomfortable about profiting from people’s basic need for shelter, especially when that profit often comes with minimal accountability and maximum power over tenants’ lives. Rent increases “because the market allows it,” poor maintenance, opaque fees and agents acting as unchallengeable gatekeepers… it doesn’t always sit right with me as a way to earn a living.

AIBU to feel uneasy about this being a normal, socially accepted income stream?

I also think sometimes it is jealousy...big companies are faceless, individual landlords are easier to envy and direct your anger at

Property is an appreciating asset, things like clothes and food are not.

I used to be a landlord. I lost loads of money because my tenants didn't bother paying the rent over Covid and then reported me to the council for not doing repairs (which I couldn't afford because they were £10k in arrears.) I had to sell at a very reduced price before the council took me to court. The new landlord threw them out.

This answer covers it. People do business for money. You wouldn’t buy a house, cover the cost of all repairs and rent it out for just the monthly mortgage payment, just as if you were selling goods for a living, you wouldn’t sell them for the same price you bought them for. We don’t live in a Communist society (thank God).

We live in a capitalist society.

I have a job because I presumably create more money for my employer than I cost them. My pension will almost certainly involve investment in companies that make profit and I want that because it will benefit me personally.

What about other businesses like utilities, medicine and food? You can’t choose to not eat or have water.

If landlords kept their properties and didn’t lend them out then the results would be worse. I’m not saying that they are doing society a favour but everybody is out there making a profit from everyone else and landlords aren’t any worse than say Thames Water or Tesco.

The housing market is fucked up and I feel for those who can never own even if they wanted to. Working full time should be enough for a mortgage on a basic property imo

Or how about not profiting from people needing care?
Everyone needing food?
Energy?

I earnt 18k when I bought my 2 bed flat for 85k at age of 22. I had saved up a 10k deposit by working a 2nd job in the evenings. It was a complete state, no working kitchens, dodgy bathroom, grotty carpets. I did up 1 room and lived in that as could only afford 1 new carpet, slept on a single mattress on the floor. Every bit of money I had left over each month I bought 1 thing - a 2nd hand fridge, a microwave. I only got it fully sorted 2 years later and then had to move for work and rented it out, at an overall loss.

DH (before I knew him) did very similar. We then sold both after we married to be able to buy a do'er upper family home in outer London. My salary at that point was about 33k, DH only a bit more.

So it is doable if prepared to live in cheaper area, take in a do'er upper and live in a cheaper area.

This makes no sense. If there is private renting, that can be social housing. I never understand this argument. Property doesn’t disappear because private landlords do.

i agree OP-this is one of the worst outcomes of capitalism

Before I purchased this house I rented for 4 years. Rent was £1400 far far far more than a mortgage. Which would have been £1000 as repayment with minimal deposit. Landlord did nothing to address mould or damp or leak issues. Nothing. He did no maintenance at all ever and not even gas safety certificates done on time. We paid for dehumidifier, paid for guttering cleaning etc and even the windows were falling out of frames. Fortunately we documented it all in writing over the years - when we left he tried to keep our deposit saying we had caused the mould. Fortunately we had videos of water and damp coming through walls that we sent to him and helps response in writing - it’s not a great house. He painted over all the mould and got a new tenant in for £2000 a month and after 6 months she had issues with mould wrecking all her things in built in wardrobes so we have given her copies of all our emails sent to him over the years before we moved out of the area so she can take it further. He rents out two other houses (all 3 houses were from parents and grandparents and inheritances) he is currently renting all of them out for £6K a month and does no maintenance on any of them.
He knew I had children and knew the issues with mould wrecking- our health. I owned a house before renting that one and since owning it and we just don’t have issues with mould and have never done - windows open most days etc and the house warm and cosy.

I have no problem with a landlord renting but they need to do maintenance - yearly not fix problems ;although they need to do that too but they need to do mould prevention. We ended up with health problems and two weeks after we moved out our coughs, asthma etc all just cleared up in our new house. They also don’t need to be grabby - he doesn’t need to put the rent up to £2000 or more - it is pure income for him! The rents round here are crazy - £2000 for a 3 bed semi!! Or more:-(
because people need houses they put them up and up and up. Used to be 20% of your wage and now it’s expected rent is 50% or more round here. Single parents have no chance.

And when was this exactly?

The argument here is that the capitalist market works better for food which it turns out market forces dictate is very low profit margin, yet plentiful (in the uk)

the market for housing works by disadvantaging the poorest in society, and rewarding the richest over and over again.

Just as you can choos between supermarkets you can choose between Landlords and letting agents. Your argument is critically flawed.

Even in 2003, with the exact same circumstances and no need for deposit, I was offered a £102k mortgage in this circumstance which wasn’t enough to purchase a small flat in areas I looked in 200 miles of my home

yes I could’ve moved to the north or a town in Bedfordshire etc etc but I was building a career, had friends and a boyfriend and it’s not in any way common for someone to abandon all of that in favour of home ownership

It not critically flawed. You chose a property. You have no control over who owns and manages it and there is no Consistency across service from landlords and letting agents for you to realistically make this choice.

Are you really trying to draw a direct analogy between 'shopping' for somewhere to live and shopping for food?

Do you hate food shops too?

If you want to live under communism there still a few countries to choose from.

My moral objection is nail bars, car washes and all the related OCG run businesses that people turn a blind eye to because it suits them.

You talk absolute shit. When the Landlord pays to maintain their property they write the cost off against their tax bill as is legally permissable. It doesn't affect the tenants rent. I'm actually replacing a tumble dryer this morning for a tenant but it won't affect the amount of rent they pay.

Regulation of the market isn’t the same as capitalism.

the markets many posters are comparing are heavily regulated- water, energy, social housing.

there is little market regulation in private renting; those that exist are generally health and safety related, not regulating the market itself

A quick Google suggests i can, in theory, get a mortgage of £120,000. Deposit required £6000( I have zero savings and can't afford to save due to high rent). Cheapest property (within a 50 mile radius) £160,000... Please, prey tell, how can I get on the property ladder.?

Disagree, we’ve had bad landlords and amazing landlords. I think when they’re on the ball and follow all the rules they deserve to make money just like any other business

"With food or medicine, there are at least some protections around quality, pricing and access"

Protections for the buyer maybe but not for the supplier. Try being a supplier on a small farm in kenya trying to make a living growing beans and you get screwed over at every turn and supermarkets pay you next to nothing, reject loads of your beans which you only know about when you finally get paid after months of chasing and begging and its a lot less than it should be so you ask why and are told that lots of your beans were rejected so you remind them the agreement was that anything they reject you collect and sell locally and they don't give a shit. You know damn well they used the lot and there's fuck all you can do about it.

I hope you all enjoyed your pack of green beans this christmas cos we got shafted yet again.

Water is the most basic need and water companies make profits. You don’t mention them though. Some people just hate landlords and try to hide that hate behind reasonable arguments. Their arguments make no sense, are always flawed and everyone can see straight through them.

You can choose your housing though. People choose to move to much cheaper areas to rent. People choose to live in other countries. People choose to live in vans. People choose to live in houses/flats that are small and live with minimal clutter.

I don’t rent. But I chose to buy a small house with a small garden rather than buy a larger house with a large mortgage. I cut my cloth. If I couldn’t have afforded to buy a house where I live, I would have moved to a cheaper part of the country for quality of life to keep housing costs down.

I have rented houses out before now, at or below market rate. Below if it was to an excellent tenant who was there long term and who looked after the house well. I always, ALWAYS, responded to calls/emails the same day. Always made sure the houses I rented were in a condition that I would be delighted to live in myself.

I make my money from letting property at a reasonable rate. Legally compliant. Well maintained. I’m happy my tenants are happy. Don’t see the problem.