To think we should ban private renting?

[honeyrosesandwich]

AIBU to think this is a great idea?

Imagine if private renting was banned. All rented houses were done under social housing / housing association. There are already over 4.5 million houses rented under social housing, so it's on a huge scale already.

It would mean rent would be affordable for everyone and effectively help the cost of living prices. I live in a housing association house and my 2 bed is £520 a month. My brother, who private rents, pays £1100 for a 2 bed in the same area.

Repairs for my house are done by the HA's own company. I just put in a request online for it.

People that want to stay in their privately rented home will be free to do so but they put a ban on any new tenancies. The owners will have the opportuntiy to sell the house to social housing or keep it for themselves, but not rent it out further. If sold, the tenant will be allowed to stay.

I've been thinking about this randomly today and haven't come up with any negatives so far. Is it bad to monopolise housing? Well, there are already certain housing associations which own hundreds of thousands of houses.

Private renting gives you more choices. You can be picky about where you live, how many rooms you have, a garden or not, who you live with, picking somewhere fully furnished etc.

A couple seeking SH is going to be limited to a one bed place, probably in a flat with no garden, no way to have extra rooms for a home office or hobbies.
Sometimes friends live together. I don't think SH allows for that.
My ex rented a flat with a colleague that they lived in Mon-Fri (both were working a year long contract in a job that was too far to commute daily). Both had their main homes, so they would not be eligible for SH had it been the only choice.

Sometimes people rent for different reasons. There's a rental in our cul de sac. One family rented because they'd moved up here to look for a house wanting the kids enrolled in local schools. They did buy and moved out,.

Another time a couple came back from Australia to help care for an elderly parent who was dying. Their UK extended were able to visit, share the load of caring.

It isnt the renters home. It's a property they rent. If I rent a car it doesn't become my car.

It is their home - what other home do they have?

Are leasehold flats also not someone’s home? Properties with a mortgage?

it’s residence, not ownership, that makes a home.

Your posts are dripping with ‘rather than rely on the state’, ‘how can you believe that’ and noting you ‘worked hard and saved’. Implying that those who need or would benefit from social housing, including to help be in a position to then save or achieve their aspirations are somehow lesser is more than just disagreeing.

You’ve been called out on a haughty viewpoint and avoided the Q: If you lost absolutely everything tomorrow, could you in this day and age, with zero help, starting again at entry level employment, on your own replicate what you have now? Bearing in mind you’d need to privately rent first to get that first deposit? That’s the point. Social housing including as a springboard is a way to pay it forward for the next generation to also have a chance.

Not to mention it would reduce the UC housing element costs overall.

No. A mortgaged property belongs to the owner. The financial institution has a lean on the property and hold the deeds. But the owner is free to sell or make changes, extend. You can't make a home in a rented property because you have no co trol over it. You cant alter it, extend it, sell it. It's can be sold without your consent. Making a home in a rented property is cos-playing home ownership. You'd be foolish to think of a rented property as belonging to you or treating it as "home." I never looked at any place I rented as my home, they were an address and a place to live out of. But calling a rented property a home is whay is causing so much trouble for the rental sector.

They do and it hasn’t always worked out well. Energy for profit. Water for profit. Social care for profit. Housing for profit.

Many support a not for profit NHS. Basic needs should be non profit as the Thatcher model (including PFI) hasn’t helped the masses.

I think it depends tbh.

Often you’re right and it is their home. Very much so.

However, when I was a student my family home was the place I considered home. The apartments I rented were just temporary accommodation and I never saw them as my home really.

A friend rents a (very small) apartment in London where he works two, three or four days a week. His home is in Ireland where his wife and kids live in the family home.

People who rent are "cos-playing home ownership"?

You are a revolting person

Ok I’ll bite!

Your question is flawed. I won’t ever have to start at entry level again, Im in a senior role in a job that is very much needed and very full on. Oh And before you ask I’m currently on leave to stay with my MIL (dementia) whilst my FIL is in hospital - hence I’m wasting time on mumsnet!

However, as previously stated, my daughter is at entry level in her chosen profession and doesn’t rely on the state to provide her housing. She works full time during the week and then works Saturday evenings and some Sundays to supplement her income with an aim to get on the housing ladder - personally I’d prefer she blows the lot on back packing round the world!

@ThePeppyOpalScroller. As someone who is 64 and rents really nice houses, I certainly think of it as home, Ive been here 4 years, have a gardener, pictures up ( landlord totally happy with it and asked if we wanted hooks left up before we moved in 4 years ago) agent actually commented my home looks much nicer and better order than many he goes to value for sale- yes I don’t own it and as it’s a £1m house that’s not going to happen - but whilst I’m in it and paying, it’s home , just a leased one. Not all tenants are the same - there’s a vast variety of tenants and reasons -

I agree with the idea in principle however it would affect new relationships I think, no option to test the waters renting a property together before buying, or blending families where both own a property so one rents out theirs to move in with the other. I think what would actually happen is people would rent from people they know but have none of the legal protection currently in place

I'm a strong supporter of social housing, having lived in council housing as a young child and an adult. I'm old enough to remember Thatcher bringing in the RTB and have always hated it as a policy. (It would have been better if the money raised was ploughed back into housing but she specifically banned it).

However MN is weirdly anti landlords. There will ALWAYS be a place for it. Young people leaving home, people moving for jobs, short term lets, students, those who don't want to buy etc.

It's a nice idea in theory but in practice it won't work. It's too much money for the government to spend at once, and it's just not practical on so many levels.

Landlords are forever seen as social pariahs here. I'm not denying there are rogue landlords but not all of them and there are also rogue tenants!

To be, I hope, reasonable and considered about it - but not suggesting I can offer a solution…what most bothers most people is the difficulty for young working people, couples and young families especially, in buying a first home.

I may be wrong but I just can’t help thinking that buy-to-lets and Airbnb are a significant contributor to that problem.

I may be wrong but I just can’t help thinking that buy-to-lets and Airbnb are a significant contributor to that problem.

@Hoodle should any airbnbs be allowed? What about holiday rentals?

I’m not saying it’s an easy thing to solve. There will be exceptions and special cases.

But why would a holiday rental property be unsuitable for someone to buy and live in?

It's their home, just not their house. Which is exactly why they have all these strong renters' rights.

You might not like it, but... it is. And recognized as such in all these countries.

But why would a holiday rental property be unsuitable for someone to buy and live in?

That is true and these descriptions of popular holiday spots becoming ghost towns in winter are depressing.
There are hotels but some people prefer to self cater and rent a holiday house/cottage. I don’t know what the answer is.

When we had young children before all inclusive renting an apartment or villa was so much easier than a hotel. Made for a relaxing holiday. These properties were purpose built though.

These days give me a hotel and spoil me 😁

In some of them you'd freeze your ass off in the winter. They're not insulated, don't have suitable heating.

It does depend. We’ve lived in our rented cottage for 38 years. At an extremely reasonable rent, with a registered tenancy and a landlord that does do what’s needed when required. For real.
What made us stay is that we look down and across a Wiltshire vale, surrounded by fields, providing a wonderful environment for our children when young, and a lovely big garden for older age. Quality of life over possession of bricks and mortar.
The downside is being economical on household changes, even decorating and carpets. But we’re happy.

Has anywhere else banned rentals?

It could work but would take years to slowly implement, otherwise you’d risk having people homeless.

I’d also allow a carve out for ultra luxury properties.

You are just arguing semantics.
I rented for years, and where I lived was my home. Yes, not my flat, but it was my home. If I filled in a form asking for my home address, was I meant to put nothing?

Going by your logic, anyone who rents is "homeless".

Just issue compulsory purchase orders at a rate the government can afford.

Guess we could just use some of the £20bn+ that's already being used to subsidise private rents