Moderators neil Posted May 6, 2022 Moderators Share Posted May 6, 2022 TBH I don't have a major issue with landlords in general, I feel like they are a very easy target and while there are many shit ones there are decent landlords too. Just a very convenient target to say "if it weren't for you I'd have my own place" which is a bit of a leap I think. I suspect the UK may not have the same problem as the US, but over here there are two distinct issues - corporations moving in on the housing market combined with a shortage of homes being built due to NIMBYs and absurd zoning laws. This has just led to a limited inventory and an overwhelming demand that rents have naturally trended way up because people are willing to spend more just to get a place. Same exact thing is happening with home ownership too - which is why I don't think you can purely blame landlords. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironic Indie Lad Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 5 minutes ago, neil said: TBH I don't have a major issue with landlords in general Everyone stopped reading at this point you massive tory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators neil Posted May 6, 2022 Moderators Share Posted May 6, 2022 Just now, Ironic Indie Lad said: Everyone stopped reading at this point you massive tory Nah mate, wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt right now ain't I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
organizedkaos Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 (edited) 21 minutes ago, neil said: TBH I don't have a major issue with landlords in general, I feel like they are a very easy target and while there are many shit ones there are decent landlords too. Just a very convenient target to say "if it weren't for you I'd have my own place" which is a bit of a leap I think. I suspect the UK may not have the same problem as the US, but over here there are two distinct issues - corporations moving in on the housing market combined with a shortage of homes being built due to NIMBYs and absurd zoning laws. This has just led to a limited inventory and an overwhelming demand that rents have naturally trended way up because people are willing to spend more just to get a place. Same exact thing is happening with home ownership too - which is why I don't think you can purely blame landlords.  I think the decent are outnumbered by the shit. I know two couples who have been landlords, from what I understand both couples attemtped to be fair as possible especially with the younger couple being very aware of their own experiences with landlords and partially wanting to let a property as to provide a place that wasn't run by cnuts. Alas I think the combination of the promise of money and maybe somewhat the generation gap (landlords often being in the same generation who seem to think the youth's prediliction for avocado toast is the reason for their financial woes) leads to a large number of landlords being not great. The city I'm in is a very popular one with two universities. There's always a fair amount of property development going on (although some does get blocked due to the reasons you mentioned). However the temptations for landlords are great; do student lets where you have to worry less about the quality of the place and can keep bumping up rent every couple years or go for people from London who're migrating this way and have larger budgets due to their salaries. Alas as with a lot "free market" stuff this make things much harder for everyone who isn't rich or has rich parents. Average rent went up 8.4% last year (well Sept 2020 - Sept 2021). That sort of pattern means it's possible to be somewhat general about this sort of thing - at least here. I understand other cities have had a similar issue, I'm less sure about other places Also the big money landlords are part of the homeownership market problem too as they're buying properties to rent (and because they can make so much money of it they're willing to over bid etc)   Edited May 6, 2022 by organizedkaos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted May 6, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 6, 2022 I don't think anyone here has said or would say it's purely down to landlords and property developers - I said I think they're at least a third of the problem, and that's because the other parts are: The government, who, New Labour, Lib Dem or Tory, have consistently refused to undertake major social housing building programmes, which would have helped prevent the market from getting overinflated like it has. They have also waved through far too many luxury property developments, many of which are now owned as "appreciating assets", as opposed to actual homes, by billionaires/oligarchs/cunts. The banks, who helped contribute to the whole fucking mess by giving out "subprime" mortgages, i.e. loans to people who couldn't afford them, because governments wanted to avoid the embarrassment of whole swathes of the middle class being unable to afford homes on their watch. Actually, add to that further a financial sector that built entire sections of the economy on the leveraging and selling of debt, and trader cunts who make money by literally betting on who can pay and who can't. The rentier class that has been spawned by that unholy Trinity/Quartet now reaps so much money from the property market, they are now powerful enough to lobby and oppose any government that might start building social housing or preventing luxury projects, and thus dent their profits. I don't think it's unreasonable to say that landlords and property developers are a major contributing factor to the state of the housing market and the economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 40 minutes ago, neil said: Nah mate, wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt right now ain't I. Without googling, name three of his songs.  My flat is a shithole, it’s a one bed in a house that’s was turned into 3 flats over a decade ago and that’s probably the last time any work was done. My ceiling collapsed and it took 18 months for the landlord to sort it. He is really really shit but I like not hearing from him as I’m anxious he will section21 me so he can charge more rent for the next sucker. My health means I can’t work so if I’m evicted I’m fucked, so I don’t rock the boat.  I pay just over 500 a month, one of the upstairs flats has just been listed for 650. It’s smaller than mine and they can only use water if I’m not because the pipes are too narrow to adequately pressurise the water. He knows this and said he won’t have them done because he’d have to shell out for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironic Indie Lad Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 I only really know about the Glasgow market and, regardless of what's caused it, its clearly absolutely *fucked* The West End and the South Side of Glasgow are the most in demand areas. Apparently the demand in the South has overtaken the West for the first time recently and this has caused prices to skyrocket. I used to rent a tenement flat just off of Kilmarnock Road in Shawlands in 2015/16 for £400pcm. 5 years down the line and you are looking at double that price. Not only that, there are a lot of horror stories of people bidding for flats by offering to pay above the advertised rent or even offering to pay 6 months to a year of rent up front. A lot of people would probably wonder why you wouldn't just use the money for a deposit if you can afford to pay months of up front rent at an expensive price. The problem is that the property market is also fucked. Its very common for flats in the area to go anywhere from 10 to 30k above the home report value. Obviously that extra money cant be mortgaged so these properties are only going to be available with significant money to spare in the first place. I had a flat in the area that I sold last year and people were trying to buy it without even viewing it, probably as they just wanted to increase their rental portfolio. I dont rent anymore but I have never had good experience with a landlord ever. The bastards will scratch and claw to keep as much of your deposit as possible. I had to enter a dispute with my last landlord and when the adjudicator ruled in my favour it was among the most satisfying moments of my pathetic life!  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted May 6, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 6, 2022 (edited) OK lets get this over with. Some of you know i am a landlord of a student let so i already know im in for the hate so crack on.  Anyone that is going to jack a rent as high as bacons is trying to do then try to evict them and threaten them is a scum bag i can only guess they are awful people in general. In the years ive had it i have only had an issue once due to 3 months none payment. Further investigation showed the lad broke his leg and was unable to work to cover the cost until his student loan came in, sure enough once he was able he paid it back over the 2 year lease. Shit in life happens. I fail to understand letting your investment fall into disrepair. On average one months rent will cover the repairs in a year as long as you keep ontop of it. Major boiler failures aside.  Edited May 6, 2022 by quote the raven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted May 6, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 6, 2022 19 minutes ago, quote the raven said: OK lets get this over with. Some of you know i am a landlord of a student let so i already know im in for the hate so crack on.  Anyone that is going to jack a rent as high as bacons is trying to do then try to evict them and threaten them is a scum bag i can only guess they are awful people in general. In the years ive had it i have only had an issue once due to 3 months none payment. Further investigation showed the lad broke his leg and was unable to work to cover the cost until his student loan came in, sure enough once he was able he paid it back over the 2 year lease. Shit in life happens. I fail to understand letting your investment fall into disrepair. On average one months rent will cover the repairs in a year as long as you keep ontop of it. Major boiler failures aside.  To clarify again: nobody in this thread has refused to recognise there are decent landlords. Just that a fair few of us are of the opinion that decent ones like yourself are in a tiny minority. Between raising rents, splitting of properties into ridiculously small units, lack of protections for tenants, and a whole host of other shitty behaviour, a problem as large as that facing the UK property market isn't going to be caused because only a few are shit. Fair fucks to you for being a good one, by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 I lived in Manhattan for a year and spent a mindblowing amount a month rent on a fucking studio and when I left back for the UK I was more broke than when I started. Which very much wasn't the point or the dream. My current rent is too high for a one bedroom flat in Camden. The area's not great and the flat is a bit of a shithole, but my wife and I had the temerity to get a dog in the US (mainly to fend off a nervous breakdown for my wife due to my travelling, but that's another story) and we're now essentially pre-emptively blacklisted by all landlords. Despite my dog being able to keep her personal living quarters far cleaner than some of the flats i've lived in. Renting is crap and costs such a soul sucking amount of money for something you have no real stake in. If I owned property, though, i'd probably rent it. I like to think i'd be a 'good' landlord, but who knows. Just life, innit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Coconut Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 57 minutes ago, quote the raven said: Some of you know i am a landlord of a student let Ding-dong, Landlord here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted May 6, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 6, 2022 25 minutes ago, Carbomb said: To clarify again: nobody in this thread has refused to recognise there are decent landlords. Just that a fair few of us are of the opinion that decent ones like yourself are in a tiny minority. Between raising rents, splitting of properties into ridiculously small units, lack of protections for tenants, and a whole host of other shitty behaviour, a problem as large as that facing the UK property market isn't going to be caused because only a few are shit. Fair fucks to you for being a good one, by the way. Ive had a few interesting comments before hence my opening few lines. The raising of rent to levels people cant pay is just the worst. Even if your interest rate has been pushed up recently mine is now costing me around £120 a month more thats the way it is. Record low rates have made landlords expect a certain return and when they dont get it they attempt to pass it onto the tenants. My biggest fear is it not being let thats 100% loss on my investment. If i get a good bunch of people in and they want it for a 2nd term no way am i demanding more money. I would say that when i brought it the people i talked to where "fuck em they are students" like it was expected for the house to look and be maintained like shit. However i soon worked out that with sometimes yearly turn rounds if you put a bit of effort into the house it will let sooner. They introduce the rated C or no rent EPC and there will be 1000s of landlords having to spend major money trying to do basic stuff they should have done ages ago  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted May 6, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 6, 2022 (edited) 5 minutes ago, quote the raven said: Ive had a few interesting comments before hence my opening few lines. I thought that was only due to admitting to being a Tory Edited May 6, 2022 by Hannibal Scorch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted May 6, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 6, 2022 43 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said: I thought that was only due to admitting to being a Tory Fucking hell mate let those who want to call me a cunt get in for being a landlord before they call me a cunt for voting Tory last time.  Double cunting is now a thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted May 6, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 6, 2022 2 hours ago, Keith Houchen said: I like not hearing from him as I’m anxious he will section21 me And therein lies one of the (many) issues with renting that most people who harp on about the fucking property ladder miss. You're constantly living in fear when you rent. We're in our 8th place in 15 years. If something goes wrong or something's not working, I'll look down every possible avenue I can to get it sorted before I ring the landlord because you're always in fear of him turning round and saying we broke it or he's not going to fix it and he'll get new tenants instead. It's awful. The current landlord we've got is the best one we've had and he's still shit. A couple of months after the pandemic started, he decided he was going to have a new gas meter put in for the flat. So he got some blokes to drill a hole in the wall at the bottom of the stairs (access to our flat is outdoors, we're not in a block) - and then left it open while he waited for the cabling to arrive. A really fucking bright idea considering we live above a pub and next to a couple of restaurants where there are loads of bins and, sure enough, we got mice. The daft cunt. So I went ahead and called Rentokill myself but when they quoted me the price I had to call because I wasn't paying that. I then volunteered to pay half because I was worried he'd blame us for them. Took us three months to get rid of them - the exact time it took him to fill in the fucking hole in the wall. Imagine that! We have a section 21 in place and ours expired 2 days ago. We've looked at 32 different places because we need a house or a duplex so the kids can have some space due to their issues. We have to be near transport links and shops because I don't drive and we often need something at the drop of a hat. I've viewed a bunch of places I knew wouldn't be suitable just in case we were surprised. We never have been. We've applied for 4 places and had no success because there's been 12 to 15 other applicants. It's absolute pot luck. Now you've got landlords asking for credit checks to RENT. We're living day by day not knowing what's going to happen next and are essentially waiting for the woman next door to move out so we can have her flat. Which is a horrible situation to be in, and even more so because she's got a lovely dog. Landlords are cunts. If you are a landlord, you are a cunt. Because no matter how much you might think you're one of the 'good ones' the chances are that you're probably a bigger cunt than most of the rest of them. Living under you is miserable and constantly worrying and your prices are never EVER fair. So fuck off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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