How can the government get away with doing this to renters?

[winterwonder1]

So housing benefit if being frozen next year - yet rents are rocketing (because of the increased pressures on BTL taxation and mortgages, among other issues). Surely vulnerable people will become homeless because of this?

Housing benefit payments to be frozen again in 2025 | Kidderminster Shuttle

Buying a house is not the be all and end all. This drive for ownership is one of the main reasons why the housing market is as it is.

Surely being able to rent a good, trouble free, easy and cheap to run home is sufficient? Having financial security and security of tenure is an important thing to enable a people to raise their families in a stable environment.

Houses are expensive to maintain. Ownership isn't achievable for everyone. Nor does everyone want the stress and expense.

I don't own a house anymore, it's a relief. I do live with family, this year they've had to spend nearly £10k in maintenance. £1,000 today as the drains went over Christmas and the old, cracked pipes needed digging out and replacing. There's always something, gutters need doing next, that'll be another £500. The chimney needs re-pointing, won't see much change from £3k for that as it needs scaffolding.

But surely it isn't just supply and demand because it isn't just market forces at play. Govt schemes - benefits, lisa, help to buy, right to buy - are all involved. It is social housing that is needed most of all and there is no shame in that.

I recall watching Homes Under the Hammer where two students in Liverpool were buying houses by proxy at auction. The money came from Chinese investors and they had built quite a portfolio. The students were paid for their work and also project managed the refurbishments. I was aghast that our housing stock is being bought up by the Chinese

Edit. So benefits from our taxes are going to Chinese investors v

We need to move away from housing being a 'good investment' and see it for what it is, a roof over your head. I was staying with a friend in central London over a weekend, we were sat outside on her balcony and both of us remarked on just how few apartments facing the Thames had any lights on. Far too many apartments are stood empty after being bought by foreign investors.

Because in parts of the country eg Outer NW London, the lowest third of rents for a 3 bed are close to £2000/month. If two of you work full time at the living wage your net monthly income is c£3600.

Add your travel to work costs and fuel etc and it's unaffordable which is why UC has to chip in.

And that's before you have kids.

Stop giving free money to people who don't care to work and send them live with mum and dad.

Does your moral objection extend to other essentials, such as food? Should the government dictate the price of that as well…? We all know how that turns out!

The reason rents are high is that there aren’t enough houses to rent. The solution is to build much more social housing, but that needs to be funded. I’m sure the government will have a plan for that…

Incidentally, the boom in buy to lets came after Thatcher…the first wave took hold under Blair, albeit on the back of changes under Major. But the real boom was 2010 to 2015, way after Thatcher. Once could argue that the deregulation of financial services was a fundamental part of it, but that democratised property ownership to an extent previously unseen. The Bliar / Brown destruction of private sector pensions had a far bigger impact, as many needed to find a way to plan for retirement and property was seen as a safer and more accessible bet than pensions, for which the goal posts kept moving. Only in the last 5 / 10 years have the taxes and legislation made buy to lets less attractive, but the short sighted approach of trying to tax them out of existence while doing nothing to increase supply of social housing has led to the entirely predictable shortage of rental property, and consequent rapid increase in rents.

Who are these people and, if they exist, why should Mum and Dad have to provide?

Try private renting for a decade plus (we're 44 and 49 both working but can't afford to buy). Virtually no rights, could be out on our arses any time.

We’ve been privately renting for 20 years. Hoping for a low deposit mortgage

Yes on the front of Financial Times today - Aviva, Blackrock, some Canadian Pension Fund, etc - all investing in UK housing because it provides the great steady income. Bonkers.

Why the government and taxpayers should fund someone's uneducated lazy offsprings?
Let the parents reap what they saw. And vacate cheaper housing for young professionals.

Do you feel the same about food sales then?

The government is putting more and more pressure on landlords and those costs are being borne by increased rents . The next big one is the 2030 EPC rating needing to be a C . That will necessitate landlords spending thousands of pounds meeting these levies . It's not sustainable . Landlords will leave the market , there is inadequate social housing so what's left available to rent will be at astronomical cost , probably rental bids to the highest offer .

@Pep12per
”Yes on the front of Financial Times today - Aviva, Blackrock, some Canadian Pension Fund, etc - all investing in UK housing because it provides the great steady income. Bonkers.”

I do not think there is anything wrong with large corporations investing in housing in UK. If anything we should be encouraging it. They will not be buying up existing homes. Rather, they will be providing the capital needed to build decent quality homes - some of which will be affordable/social housing - to meet a demand for rental properties in UK.

Countries like Germany which have a more successful housing strategy than UK (albeit now under strain) have many investors like this. I used to live in a block owned by a Bavarian pension fund. It was great.

Landlords are having to pay far higher costs so of course some is going to be passed on to tenants. Landlords are aware rents are through the roof and are baring lower and lower profits , if any profit . It's the governments fault . Increases to taxation. Every single check , gas safety , electric , deposit scheme , EPC . These aren't deemed necessary in your owner owned homes Never mind increased mortgage rates , leasehold service charges etc . It's just not worth it anymore to be a landlord .

Surely people are paying the extortionate rents though, otherwise the landlords would have to drop them! Same with current house prices - people are paying them. I don't know how people are affording it to be honest.

I think most people have to be working couples . Single people are probably having to rent rooms in shared flats .

Yes on the front of Financial Times today - Aviva, Blackrock, some Canadian Pension Fund, etc - all investing in UK housing because it provides the great steady income. Bonkers.

Why is it bonkers? Pension funds are looking to generate returns from a range of asset classes, including property for its income-generating potential from rents.

Should property be a banned asset class for pension funds? A bit harsh if you're a pensioner looking for a stable income stream from your pension in retirement. Also provides a source of funding for developers which arguably should boost supply.

I'd rather be trapped in social housing than private renting. I get a small amount of UC. I rent. If I go over the amount I'm allowed to save my UC decreases, eventually to 0. Then I would end up dipping into my savings to pay my rent. I doubt I will ever buy. I can't get into social housing though as I'm nowhere near the top of the list. I'm trapped private renting for extortionate prices. Feels hopeless.

I thought that a good proportion of people who get housing benefit (or the housing element of UC) were working but not earning enough to pay rent, given how much it has increased.

So essentially hard working taxpayers who can barely afford their own rent/mortgage are paying private landlords so they can live without having to work. You couldn't make it up

Are other countries tax payers subsidising landlords?

Exactly, supply and demand as pp’s have said.

My db had his house valued for rental at £1200pcm when he moved in with his gf. It languished on the market for a bit so he let it for a bit less to a nice couple.

If he let it out for say, £600pcm just to cover his mortgage it would be an extremely bad idea as his other costs wouldn’t be covered - he’d be better off just letting it stay empty and not taking the risk.

They’ve been there a year now and he’s actually spent more money than he’s gained - part of a garden wall fell down and cost £10k to re-build and he’s had to install a new shower and extractor. There is a small pool of water that keeps appearing in the bathroom and he’s had a plumber out several times. The plumber thinks it’s just that the tenants aren’t using the shower curtain correctly and are airing their wet laundry in there but they won’t listen. He’s not renewing the contract when the time is up as he’s found it very stressful.

The rental market is the only business where people seem to be expected to take huge personal risks and not gain financially. Why would you bother if there wasn’t a profit to gain? Would you rent your house to strangers out of the goodness of your heart knowing they could completely trash it and you’d never see any money back? Or that they could refuse to leave and you’d have to spend £££ going through court to get them out? Or that something as trivial as the batteries running out in a smoke alarm could leave you paying thousands in fines?

One LL I know had an alcoholic tenant who fell down the stairs and blamed a loose handrail (unreported) on his fall and took the LL to court (all free via legal aid of course) He ended up settling as it wasn’t worth the stress and time of his solicitors costs. He then had a long battle to get this person out of the flat despite many complaints of antisocial behaviour from other tenants.

Situations like this are a really common occurrence and the increasing difficulty getting rid of troublesome tenants is understandably putting small LL’s off.

Much stricter regulation of the private renterd sector would help arbitrary rent increases by landlords! Something the sector has been crying out for for years…