Most private rentals "unaffordable"

[TheVampireEmpusa]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15284892

Not surprised by this, wondered what others thought. Especially in relation to those struggling for cash and reliant on local housing allowance.

According to the BBC article, the cheapest rent is in Burnley, at £394 pm, but according to the LHA calculator the max anyone could get is £340, so still need to find £54 a month. Quite a lot if you are struggling already.

The government is to blame (all of them, but my particular dislike is for the Tories, labour didn't do anything to improve the situation). Selling all the good quality social housing is what has put most people in the hellish situation of short assured tenancies, where you are always worried about when you will be asked to move on. I think I am an urban gypsy, 6 houses in 7 years, great references, always pay rent on time and leave houses in the same or better condition than when we moved in.

I have experienced this - you get notice to quit after 4 months because the LLs want to sell up to make a profit, or they want to renovate the property to live in themselves then they change their mind and rent it out again because they have another "project" (my last landlords have lots of properties and a very lovely home of their own, but did that to us after three years, then changed their minds and rented the property again eventually).

Overcrowding is on the increase too, I think the answer if to build good quality social housing, their are HA's building houses, but in tiny numbers - houses for people on low incomes, with the option to have shared ownership too - but they need to be of a good standard and nothing smaller than two beds.

I don't particularly care about owning a home, it would be nice, but just to be able to know I can live somewhere without fear of being moved on is all I want. I think I am an urban gypsy, 6 houses in 7 years, great references, always pay rent on time and leave houses in the same or better condition than when we moved in. Private renters are looked down on, but we are making huge profits for some people.

The current government has chosen to cut housing benefit. They know full well this will hit the poor and below-average earners very hard indeed - and even people on average wages in the big cities.

Another key reason for the housing crisis has been the right to buy - Maggie's policy of flogging off council houses at massive discounts, while preventing councils from using the money to build more social housing. Of course Labour should have done more to tackle this terrible inheritance from the Tories, but now we've got another ruddy Tory government that is reviving it, FFS.

We need an urgent change in housing policy, to ensure decent, affordable housing is available for everyone. In one of the richest countries in the world (think we are still about no. 5) that should be a basic right.

It's hugely ccomplicated though isn't it?

It's not just about the cost of private rents, clearly BTL didn't help, but there again the stupidly low interest rates we've had for far too long have certainly compounded the problem, as has self cert mortgages (in some cases) and large loan multiples (which of course are partly a function of interest rates) there again the fact that it is socially acceptable to own multiple properties, the fact that people say 'I can't afford to sell' and we all nod our head in agreement when they mean 'I can't find anyone stupid enough to pay my fantasy asking price'.

I gather the law being so much in favour of landlords and of course the fact that landlords generally pay almost no tax (my 'earned' income is taxed at whatever percentage most landlords can deduct so much i gather they almost never have to pay tax therefore tax rental income in the same way as earned and watch those properties flood the market)

However if you believe some the fact that for those who own houses such a huge proportion of their wealth is in their house no political party wants to be the one to let house prices fall and of course the longer you delay it the worse it will be.

Then of course if you believe it the country is run for the benefit of the baby boomers which means protecting house prices rather than science industry innovation schools universities etc etc and the fact that huge numbers of politicians from all parties (so I'm told) own multiple properties and you can see there is no political imperative to do anything.........

I guess they recognise that in some cases the large amount of housing benefit you can get has worked to increase private rental prices and are hoping to reverse this.

I gather also that there are plenty of empty properties......

So what to do? I don't pretend to know the answer I think landlords need to recognise that they are not providing some kind of social service by hoarding property, inflating prices, charging huge rents etc etc but that this would be better for all if the property was back in circulation and available to be sold to FTB etc.

I suspect taxing rental income properly is the best thing to do, maybe allowing interest rates to climb together with managing peoples expectations talking down house prices and starting some kind of discussion about thriving productive happy societies.
Can't see it happening any time soon. We desperately need to wake up and start looking to the future there is a school of thought about baby boomers etc etc, I have a couple of books on my short list to see if I agree........

wow what an essay sorry!

I think we need to stop our obsession with buying. We rent, it is expensive - in excess of £1000 a month so saving to buy is difficult. If we were not saving to buy there would be no problem.

A new mortgage on this house would be more than our rent and we have very few upkeep costs. We have our deposit to buy but I suspect we will be staying in our rental and leaving our money in the bank. If the LL wants to sell we may buy our house but I am in no great rush.

We do need to introduce longer tenancies to give families more security.

I doubt my dd will have the money to buy and if she goes to uni she will have a huge debt - she will just have to rent and pay off her debt.

why twinkly? why do we need to stop our obsession? why should wealth be in the hands of a few based solely it seems on whether you bought a property before 2000?

why should we protect money in private property over and above innovation or science or education?

Because I suspect that ironically if we stopped obsessing over the need to buy more people would be able to buy as prices would drop. Our obsession forces people to make stupid decisions regarding property, to buy before they are ready, to buy when it affects their quality of life, to live in an area that makes them unhappy. We are much happier for renting. I am not willing to pay the price that my house would cost to buy, presently in my opinion it is overpriced. So I rent it, if prices fall I will buy it.

I was not someone who bought before 2000, we bought in a peak and sold at a low and lost everything we had. I am not someone wanting prices to remain artificially high.

I also think that if we stopped thinking that we must all buy we will start to improve the conditions for tenants.

riven I think this is apalling and it shouldn't be like it.
I am very much in favour of strengthening the right of tennants so that modifications like ramps and hoists and accessible baths etc. can be made without a fuss, and also longer term security so that people are not forced to move out because the landlord has 'some idea'.

add to this minimum requirements for new builds and renovations , like space in the hall for wheelchair/frame, doorways and stairs wide enough etc...

ahh I see

I think taxing rental income and capital gains on sales of multiple properties together with interest rates reverting to the long term average of 5.5% would do it as well !!

We rented our house out as we moved abroad for work and wanted to keep it as a fallback/retirement. Our mortgage went up 300quid per month switching to BTL. We pay this extra as the rent doesn't cover it. We haven't put up the rent on the house for 3 years. We're hardly rip off landlords.

I think rental income is taxed properly. Any income over and above paying the interest and any expenses is taxed. We don't make a profit in the short term, but hopefully by the time we retire we will either be able to live in a mortgage free house, or have a small monthly income from it to supplement a basic govt pension.

The rules are inconsistant mortgage interest is not essential for rental property so the income should be taxed before all these deductions, thereby revealing most BTL to be the unprofitable enterprises they are helping to revert house prices back to their usual levels and increasing property ownership and bringing it back into the reaches of young families.

By not taxing it in this way they are using hard working taxpayers cash to subsidise individual private profits and thereby taking money from the poor and putting it into the pockets of the wealthy (gross generalisation I know)

high house prices transfer money from the young to the old and the poor to the rich

wrong wrong wrong
on every level

I think the thinking behind the cuts to HB bringing down rents is that a large number of people won't be able to pay the difference themselves, those landlords won't all be able to replace their tenants with ones who can pay the higher amount and so eventually will either have to drop their rents or sell up, increasing the supply of properties for sale, which should reduce prices (meaning that if then bought as BTL, the mortgages will be less and therefore can be covered with lower rents).

It's just that in practical terms, people have to not be able to pay, be forced to leave, have those properties sit empty for a few months and then the landlords might drop rent or pay, those tenants who are going to suffer in the short to mid term to make things better for everyone in the longterm are the people at the bottom of the pile.

Agree I'm not so sure this is the best or even the most appropriate way to make things better for most if it will at all
surely tax is better (brings in more money for the state) or interest rate rises (helps savers) is fairer

in fact looking at that it should be tax

Build more council/ social housing, but limit the amount of time people can use it- no need to subsidise well paid people, or for one person to have a 3 bed. Stop housing benefit and make it part of the general benefit system so that renters can bargain landlords down. Use brownfield sites more intelligently.

'The rules are inconsistant mortgage interest is not essential for rental property so the income should be taxed before all these deductions,'

Have to disagree- we rent out our family home whilst we are posted abroad with HM Forces. My tenants have now been in there 4 years, without a rent rise; nor will I increase it whilst they are there, as they are elderly and they are good tenants. We are buying the house with a mortgage, and in fact had owned the house for 16 years before we moved out. The rent received covers the married quarter rent we pay and the rest is put aside for repairs, yearly boiler checks and the insurance.

sorry scary in what way is your post relevant to my point?

Nowhere in you post can I see why you think the rules are inconsistant and there's more to tax than considering your personal circs

maybe I'm not being clear

one of the explanations I have been given for tax is that they consider whether something is necessary exclusively for the purpose of that business
a good example is barristers I believe (but i may be wrong) that they can tax deduct the cost of their wig because the IR recognise that they would reasonably only use it for court but the cost of a nice suit and some posh shoes can not be tax deducted because they could use them for going out in a similar way a mortgage is not essential for a rental property hence there is a school of thought that says we should not allow interest deduction before paying tax, by doing so we are depriving the country of a usuful source of income and subsidising private profits from the public purse!

Bring back council housing with no right to buy

^what riv said

Well as someone looking for a place to rent in Manchester at the moment i can tell you the cost of the properties astronomical but the main difficulty is the lack of landlords willing to accept HB at all. I am single mum to a one year old who works full time and i am desperately trying to find a nice place to live after walking out on an abusive situation. No one will even give me the time of day on the phone, the council has a list of HB accepting landlords which is incorrect and they all say that they get the odd property once in a blue moon.

I am down on housing lists but the wait is long and i am going bonkers sleeping on my friends couch.

It is so frustrating as i am a hard working responsible person who is trying to start a business and make a good life for my child but the minute people here housing benefit they switch off. They presume i am a slacker and will cause issues and not pay my rent.