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Original poster

Average rent what is going on!

98 replies

Rosemariex · 10/01/2023 11:34

2 bed terraces £950 to over £1000 pm! These aren't even in great areas and are nothing special at all inside nowhere to park car etc

how are people affording this? We have seen a lovely house in the perfect area but it is £1200 pm

this is Manchester where im looking is it as expensive as this in other areas?? (besides London)

or is this just the norm now and i need to realise im going to have to pay at least £1000

OP posts:
Namechangerr1 · 10/01/2023 11:36

I don't know but it's scary, frankly. I'm in the north and it's the same here.. £900-£1000 pm - in a less than desirable area. The fear of homelessness is constantly there, because I don't think I'd find anywhere else to rent.

StarDolphins · 10/01/2023 11:38

I only earn that much a month!

I feel so unbelievably sorry for people that just can’t afford it.

Afolnerd · 10/01/2023 11:40

I’m on the south coast and we currently pay £1500 for a four bed. We have been in this house for 6 years and a four bed here now is about £1800pm. There is no way we could stretch to that.

Alaldlccmemsjzja · 10/01/2023 11:42

I’m in an ‘affordable rent’ property and my rent is 50% of my income and my bills are tied into the property. District heating etc and they’re astronomical too

I couldn’t even begin to save for a deposit

it’s thoroughly demoralising

and my property is supposed to be one of the cheaper ones in a shite area!

ItsNotReallyChaos · 10/01/2023 11:44

It's truly scary and I know that I wouldn't pass the affordability checks even for a 1 bedroom flat now on my income. If we were to lose this house for any reason we'd be thoroughly screwed.

buildingourdreams · 10/01/2023 11:47

This is so depressing ...I don't know where this is all going where is it going to end up? Where people even on 30k plus can't rent anyhwere ? Where will they live ?

We have a housing association house so the rent isn't as expensive of some of these but we still have absolutely no chance of saving for a deposit with how much the bills are and food.

PoinsettiaPosturing · 10/01/2023 11:48

I'm central midlands, nice 3 bed semi near decent schools is £1400PCM. Cheapest rentals are 2 bed terrace in sink estates at £800 PCM. Supply and demand unfortunately!

maddy68 · 10/01/2023 11:48

The problem is mortgages have also increased and those costs get passed onto renters.

It's awful

confusedlots · 10/01/2023 11:48

I have no idea how many people afford it. We had to move out while doing some building work and we looked at renting, over £1000 for small houses with no outside space (and I don't live in a particularly expensive area of the country). And that's if you could even get a place to rent, there could be 10 or 20 people applying for each place.

In the end family helped us out, but I don't know how people who are renting for years manage it. We would have been paying around £600 a month on a mortgage for a place that would go for over £1000 if it was rented. Obviously mortgage payments are going up now with the interest rate rises so that gap will get smaller.

PizzaPastaWine · 10/01/2023 11:49

From an 'accidental landlords' point of view with the increase in interest rates on mortgages this is only going to get worse for tenants.

Also, the way in which landlords are now taxed will also impact on tenants...so whilst it may have initially seemed like a good idea there will be some landlords that will choose to attempt to recoup this via their tenants.

The government are just so short-sighted when it comes to affordable and social housing. It's a terrifying prospect for private renters.

DogBowlsAreMyWeapon · 10/01/2023 11:51

I’m in council so my rent is only £95/week. Local rents are in the ball-park of £2-3k/month because of the whole air bnb fiasco.

I blame the parasites.

AWaferThinMint · 10/01/2023 11:52

We've rented out to our tenant at the same rent for 6 years. I'm going to have to put the rent up, or I'm going to have to sell. I don't think either is good for our tenant but even our buffer cannot take the impact of the massive increase in our costs forever. I'm going to have to speak to him about it soon.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr · 10/01/2023 11:56

Manchester is a particularly strong example of rent growth, now it’s the norm for city centre flats to go between 1200-3000. Many young people are now finding they can have the London life on a smaller scale for a lot less money which increases demand thus prices. Also the universities attract wealthy international students who think our prices are peanuts, PLUS a lot of young families from overseas are coming to Manchester pushing house rentals up too.

Welcome to city living 😔

userxx · 10/01/2023 11:57

where about in Manchester are you looking? I can’t work out if it’s greedy landlords or their fixed mortgage rate has come to an end.

LOliver123 · 10/01/2023 11:58

It’s shocking , I bought a small 2 bed terrace a few years ago. A couple of doors down went up for rent recently for double what I pay for my mortgage .

AlwaysFoldingWashing · 10/01/2023 12:01

We are in Edinburgh and my mother in law is in the very fort aye position if not having had a rent increase in 7 years. She pays £750 per month for a third floor flat in one of the highest crime areas but her upstairs neighbours have an identical flat and are paying over £900 per month after moving in more recently

Movinghouseatlast · 10/01/2023 12:03

Yes, I live in Cornwall and I've noticed rents going up massively here. £1000 a month for a house that would have been £650 five years ago. People are on very low incomes generally here, there is very little social housing so it's a perfect storm.

My mortgage on my rental property in the South East is about to literally double, I assume that's the same for landlords here. People have been out in a position that they rely on private landlords due to the lack of social housing. Our local social housing estate is mostly now privately owned due to 'right to buy'. It's a mess caused by government but the private landlords end up getting the flack every time in these threads.

Avrenim · 10/01/2023 12:04

This is why, despite it nearly killing us in terms of running two households, we haven't and won't give up our tiny flat in the West Country while we rent in the north for now due to work contracts. If we sell that flat, we will NEVER get back on the housing ladder, and our rent, for a house the same sort of size and in a rougher area in the north, is twice the mortgage on the flat...

midgetastic · 10/01/2023 12:04

AWaferThinMint · 10/01/2023 11:52

We've rented out to our tenant at the same rent for 6 years. I'm going to have to put the rent up, or I'm going to have to sell. I don't think either is good for our tenant but even our buffer cannot take the impact of the massive increase in our costs forever. I'm going to have to speak to him about it soon.

But why are your costs so high ?

In many cases the cost of ownership seems less than the cost of renting - you get stuck with rent greater than mortgage would be , but that's classed and unaffordable by lenders

LaurieFairyCake · 10/01/2023 12:08

My mortgage on my 2 bed flat has risen from £1100 to £1900 per month

So obviously if I had to rent it out I'd have to rent it for over £1900 a month (probably about £2300 without making ANY profit whatsoever

That's a FORTUNE !

midgetastic · 10/01/2023 12:16

LaurieFairyCake · 10/01/2023 12:08

My mortgage on my 2 bed flat has risen from £1100 to £1900 per month

So obviously if I had to rent it out I'd have to rent it for over £1900 a month (probably about £2300 without making ANY profit whatsoever

That's a FORTUNE !

you wouldn't

You would only increase if you expect the renter to pay your mortgage- so you get a house bought for you and make even more money when you sell

Lampzade · 10/01/2023 12:22

I am also a landlord. My fixed term mortgage
ends this year. This means that my mortgage will increase and as a result the rent will have to increase.

TokenGinger · 10/01/2023 12:24

It's extortionate. My brother has recently made the decision to rent his house out (we're in Manchester but not city centre). The estate agents have recommended £1000pcm. He needs to pay a 13% fee to the agents (£130). Of the £870 remaining, he needs to pay 20% tax (£174), leaving £696. He then needs landlord insurance and I'm sure he said he'd get boiler insurance too, plus his mortgage of £650. By the time he's paid the relevant insurances, he won't even break even. There's are so many hidden costs and it falls to the renters. I don't know how this is possibly sustainable.

AWaferThinMint · 10/01/2023 12:29

@midgetastic mostly mortgage. But also...We don't get the benefit of interest being offset against tax in the same way any more so tax bill is higher. Maintenance costs are higher (increase for gas check and electric eg). Service charge for the block has gone up 75% over last couple of years.

Everything is substantially more.

We've absorbed and absorbed but there's only so much we can take. It costs us to own it every month right now where we've always priced it to break even (knowing our investment is increasing). It's not sustainable as an investment as I can't top up the savings buffer I'm spending to make sure I can maintain the place if anything goes wrong.

I'd happily sell if our tenant left, let someone buy to own and live there, but I don't want to pull the rug out. I can't sell tenanted if it makes a loss. 🤷‍♀️

messybutfun · 10/01/2023 13:40

midgetastic · 10/01/2023 12:16

you wouldn't

You would only increase if you expect the renter to pay your mortgage- so you get a house bought for you and make even more money when you sell

Show quote history

You are aware that landlords pay capital gains tax of 28%?
And the vast majority of BTL mortgages are interest only. Not only are most landlords not paying off their mortgages, some of them also remortgaged to release equity. These are the ones selling up now because believe it or not, if a business can’t make money there’s no point in having it.