The joy of being a landlord

[Bluecube]

We’ve been here before, just a few months ago. Whine, whine, get rid of evil scum landlords, bitch, complain.

Landlords sell up, rental stock decreases

Whine, whine, cost of rent sky high as there’s no rental properties available, bitch, complain.

The record is stuck…

 

[FoxEye]

I agree.... however Labour have had the opportunity to change this in the past, and could do it next ...... but the truth is... (and yes i think they will be better than conservatives who i despise esp after the last getting on for 10 years) labour want all the power just as much as the tories do.

I'm no fan of the current Labour lot. They aren't even socialists.

But generally it's no good for this country to continue lurching from one ideology having full control to the opposing ideology having full control. It's bonkers, frankly. You wouldn't operate a company like that. It would be crazy, and continually waste money pulling in different opposite directions, before reversing course over and over. Which is exactly what we do as a country.

FPTP has to go so we can have some sort of stability and sanity and people's voices can be properly heard.

 

[413x]

I do love this thread.

 

[JonRGV250]

We’ve been here before, just a few months ago. Whine, whine, get rid of evil scum landlords, bitch, complain.

Landlords sell up, rental stock decreases

Whine, whine, cost of rent sky high as there’s no rental properties available, bitch, complain.

The record is stuck…

Yup, it just goes round and round with the same people whining and bitching.
Strangely enough none of it is ever their fault.

 

[Rai200]

because large council backed rental companies are going to be so much better right? or alternatively just no rental properties at all... even better yet.

Why is that the only option?

Private companies owning and letting residential properties for profit should just be illegal. Either the council should buy them and rent them out at a reasonable cost or the glut of properties being available will lower prices.

Or the better option would just be councils build actually affordable housing and not £250k studio flats you see in most new builds.

We’ve been here before, just a few months ago. Whine, whine, get rid of evil scum landlords, bitch, complain.

Landlords sell up, rental stock decreases

Whine, whine, cost of rent sky high as there’s no rental properties available, bitch, complain.

The record is stuck…

How would rental stock decrease unless people are buying the properties to live in? Which would mean fewer people competing, so effectively the same supply/demand.

What I have noticed is entry evel properties (studios, 1/2 bed flats) have been dropping in price. 6 months ago you would struggle to find a studio for less than £200k down here. If you look now a lot of properties have dropped by as much as 33%.

 

[ColdAsIce]

I’ve never not paid my rent. Even when the boiler went and I spent 2.5 weeks before Xmas freezing my nuts off and having to shower at work :| plus paying extra electric ️ to run some heaters that came out of my own pocket. Pretty scummy thing to do. The very least you can do is vacate the property.

 

[Noakesy85]

Can't you offer to waive the rent owed if they get out now? Chances are that and any future payments are gone anyway. Also have you served a section 8 notice?

In all honesty, its not us, its the Letting Agencys policy. If the tenant wants a positive reference to be able to find a new place he needs to pay back his arrears prior to leaving. We've said we're more than happy for him to leave early once he's paid off his debt for September. We've even offered to let him pay weekly in October so he doesnt have to pay the full amount up front until he's into his new place. We haven't served them notice as they haven't broken the £2k threshold. They came close at the start of the year but they have been overpaying to bring down what they owed and it was going well until now.

I feel for the guy as it turns out it was his (ex) partner causing all the issues by telling him she'd paid the rent when in fact she hadn't. She was a piece of work from the start.

 

[FoxEye]

We’ve been here before, just a few months ago. Whine, whine, get rid of evil scum landlords, bitch, complain.

Landlords sell up, rental stock decreases

Whine, whine, cost of rent sky high as there’s no rental properties available, bitch, complain.

The record is stuck…

A banquet has no knives and only spoons. One of the diners says, "We should take away most of the spoons and replace them with knives. This will be better to cut up our steak. You can leave a few spoons for the dessert."

The host removes most of the spoons but brings no knives to replace them.

One of the other diners says, "See, I told you we should have been grateful for the spoons! Now how will we cut our steaks?"

 

[Rai200]

I’ve never not paid my rent. Even when the boiler went and I spent 2.5 weeks before Xmas freezing my nuts off and having to shower at work :| plus paying extra electric ️ to run some heaters that came out of my own pocket. Pretty scummy thing to do. The very least you can do is vacate the property.

Not fixing someones boiler for 2.5 weeks in winter when they're paying rent on time? That is pretty scummy.

 

[413x]

I'm 50:50.

I don't believe landlords should get a guaranteed income. There are risks, just like everything else.

But we do need landlords. Especially hobbyists. Ones with one or 2 houses.

If there's no where to rent, what can people do who need to move away (like me) from a small village due to no jobs?

Yes, there should be council housing and lots of it. But there's not. So landlords are needed to plug the gap. This anger should. Be directed at the politicians.

 

[bigmike20vt]

Why is that the only option?

Private companies owning and letting residential properties for profit should just be illegal. Either the council should buy them and rent them out at a reasonable cost or the glut of properties being available will lower prices.

Or the better option would just be councils build actually affordable housing and not £250k studio flats you see in most new builds.

I do not believe the councils could afford to buy out private landlords at the going rate however...... i fully agree councils should be building affordable housing but i do not believe they will, for the reasons already covered.

imo this is what you will see more of if more and more private LLs who have one or 2 properties all sell up

note this WAS council approved.

This Housing Association Was Started to End Slum Landlords. Then It Became One | Novara Media

Notting Hill Genesis was set up by a social activist to deal with ‘damnable housing conditions’. Now its residents are complaining of exactly that.

novaramedia.com

slum landlords need to be punished.

tenants need to be protected and if they are truly skint they need council help to pay their rent.

but equally "decent" landlords need to be able to rely on their rent be it from the tenant or backed up by the council...... otherwise they will end up not doing the upkeep they need to do.

as for them not insisting on making a profit....... well their risk comes from property upkeep and the time between rentals being empty. it should not be an accepted part of doing business that a tenant may squat in your property and it take 6 months to get rid of non payers, or ok that they trash the flat and leave filth everywhere meaning a full redecoration needed.

IF those things are a cost of renting then who do we think will pay the brunt of that? it will be passed onto other tenants.

 

[mrochester]

Why is that the only option?

Private companies owning and letting residential properties for profit should just be illegal. Either the council should buy them and rent them out at a reasonable cost or the glut of properties being available will lower prices.

Or the better option would just be councils build actually affordable housing and not £250k studio flats you see in most new builds.




How would rental stock decrease unless people are buying the properties to live in? Which would mean fewer people competing, so effectively the same supply/demand.

What I have noticed is entry evel properties (studios, 1/2 bed flats) have been dropping in price. 6 months ago you would struggle to find a studio for less than £200k down here. If you look now a lot of properties have dropped by as much as 33%.

I think there’s room in the market for both private and social rental properties, but the balance is currently not right with a severe shortage of social housing and a more modest shortage of private rents.

 

[mattyg]

No, I like to direct my ire at people who choose to profit from the misery of others. Ie, landlords.

Ah, Like Mechanics.....
When My first child was born, I couldn't afford a mortgage.. But I could afford rent... I was HAPPY to be able to move out of my parents house and start a family. Luckily a landlord was happy to take the mortgage risk

 

[Noakesy85]

I’ve never not paid my rent. Even when the boiler went and I spent 2.5 weeks before Xmas freezing my nuts off and having to shower at work :| plus paying extra electric ️ to run some heaters that came out of my own pocket. Pretty scummy thing to do. The very least you can do is vacate the property.

Our tenants a few years ago had a similar situation where the boiler died just before Christmas. It's a combi boiler so no hot water or heating in the middle of winter. We as landlords had to supply a number of electrical heaters for their safety. We also reduced their rent for a couple of months to offset the extra money they had to spend on electricity. We try to be decent level headed and understanding landlords as we know life likes to throw curveballs at us all.

 

[EvilRob]

In all honesty, its not us, its the Letting Agencys policy. If the tenant wants a positive reference to be able to find a new place he needs to pay back his arrears prior to leaving. We've said we're more than happy for him to leave early once he's paid off his debt for September. We've even offered to let him pay weekly in October so he doesnt have to pay the full amount up front until he's into his new place. We haven't served them notice as they haven't broken the £2k threshold. They came close at the start of the year but they have been overpaying to bring down what they owed and it was going well until now.

I feel for the guy as it turns out it was his (ex) partner causing all the issues by telling him she'd paid the rent when in fact she hadn't. She was a piece of work from the start.

Fair enough, ~2k isn't so bad

 

[413x]

I think there’s room in the market for both private and social rental properties, but the balance is currently not right with a severe shortage of social housing and a more modest shortage of private rents.

Absolutely.
There should be the option of a cheap standard home (like how for hotels I use cost and quality of a travel lodge as a benchmark) where you have everything you need. But not much you want.

Then theyd be landlords who were forced to have a higher standard as they'd have to compete with the cheap big standard social housing.

It Would bring a lot more properties to market, bring down house prices and provide people with cheaper, standardised housing.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Can't you offer to waive the rent owed if they get out now? Chances are that and any future payments are gone anyway. Also have you served a section 8 notice?

in-between all the arguing OP needs to have a look at practical advice like above. Try to come arrangement with the tenants that get's them out asap. Chasing debts is the worse scenario for both tenant and landlord

 

[FoxEye]

Absolutely.
There should be the option of a cheap standard home (like how for hotels I use cost and quality of a travel lodge as a benchmark) where you have everything you need. But not much you want.

Then theyd be landlords who were forced to have a higher standard as they'd have to compete with the cheap big standard social housing.

It Would bring a lot more properties to market, bring down house prices and provide people with cheaper, standardised housing.

Exactly. I'm not against landlords in the higher end/luxury market.

I'm totally against families on modest incomes being forced to rent privately, especially when the rents are as high or higher than the mortgage would be. That's indefensible.

 

[mrochester]

Exactly. I'm not against landlords in the higher end/luxury market.

I'm totally against families on modest incomes being forced to rent privately, especially when the rents are as high or higher than the mortgage would be. That's indefensible.

Yes we need the government to build social housing for those people. Trouble is finding the party who’ll do that to vote for them.

 

[Noakesy85]

Fair enough, ~2k isn't so bad

It's not horrendous, apparently we are under charging for our area so they've had a good deal for the last couple of years. We've never made a profit off of them either as our mortgage is slightly higher than our income from the property.

in-between all the arguing OP needs to have a look at practical advice like above. Try to come arrangement with the tenants that get's them out asap. Chasing debts is the worse scenario for both tenant and landlord

In all honesty, its not us, its the Letting Agencys policy. If the tenant wants a positive reference to be able to find a new place he needs to pay back his arrears prior to leaving. We've said we're more than happy for him to leave early once he's paid off his debt for September. We've even offered to let him pay weekly in October so he doesnt have to pay the full amount up front until he's into his new place. We haven't served them notice as they haven't broken the £2k threshold. They came close at the start of the year but they have been overpaying to bring down what they owed and it was going well until now.

I feel for the guy as it turns out it was his (ex) partner causing all the issues by telling him she'd paid the rent when in fact she hadn't. She was a piece of work from the start.