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Landlords selling up rental properties

(68 Posts)
Iam64 Sat 13-Jul-24 09:28:51

Long term is the way people I know who have rental properties are going

Freya5 Sat 13-Jul-24 09:28:27

nanna8

There are quite a few vacant properties owned by overseas people here but they tend to be left empty. I think some are there in case things in China get difficult - boltholes. Most of our shopping centres are owned by Chinese investors. That’s just the way it is these days, we accept it.

We shouldn't though. Allowing foreigners to buy tower blocks of flats, keeping them empty. I would be the first to congratulate Labour, would be hard though, if they banned foreigners from doing this, as they do in other countries I believe. This would be putting British people first.
Too much money to lose I would guess, but it could be stopped
Although Labour are just as globalist as the last lot.

Primrose53 Sat 13-Jul-24 09:27:16

We are going the other way. We did 13 years private renting, then 3 years holiday lets but in Oct will be going back to long term tenants.

biglouis Sat 13-Jul-24 09:21:56

There is legislation on the horizon which means that LLs will not be able to rent out property with less than a "C" category insulation after 2030. The Tories abandoned this legislation but Labour are pretty keen to re-establish it. Many LLs will sell rather than carry our the required improvements in older properties. In theory this means that cheap(er) properties will come onto the market which are of less interest to developers. An announcement is expected on monday.

nanna8 Sat 13-Jul-24 09:10:34

There are quite a few vacant properties owned by overseas people here but they tend to be left empty. I think some are there in case things in China get difficult - boltholes. Most of our shopping centres are owned by Chinese investors. That’s just the way it is these days, we accept it.

Iam64 Sat 13-Jul-24 08:58:12

Curtaintwitcher

There are plenty of private rentals available where I live. Most are owned by Asians. Trouble is, the rents are high and the landlords are not good at doing repairs.

Evidence? Are “Asians” less likely to repair rental properties than other ethnicities?

M0nica Sat 13-Jul-24 08:48:49

It is not always easy to end rental tenantcies on. DD had an offer accepted on a rental property being sold because with the rise in interest rates and their own mortgage to pay the owners couldn't afford both.

Offer accepted and her house sold. it turned out the tenants, who were still in residence, have a contract with a set end date - early next year - and cannot be forced to leave before then.

Fortunately, it is the house of DD's dreams and she is prepared to wait, and her house is her buyers dreaam home and they are prepared to wait - they too are renting, so lawyers are drawing up agreements so that if DD is prepared to wait nearly a year for a hosue the current wners cannot suddenly pull out and sell it to someone else for more.

jusnoneed Sat 13-Jul-24 08:22:36

My son has been house hunting in Somerset and we have noticed how many on the market are for people selling rental property they own.
A friend who lives in Lincolnshire has just been evicted from her long time rented bungalow (owner says he wants it) and is finding it's not easy to get somewhere else, cost wise and because she has a dog and a cat.

Callistemon213 Sat 13-Jul-24 08:13:47

As for tenant security, it is pretty secure over here, we don’t have many what you would call slums.
Not "slums" but certainly a lot of mould in some areas after the floods.

Callistemon213 Sat 13-Jul-24 08:10:57

I know that it is just as difficult to find decent affordable rental property in Australia as it is in the UK, nanna8.

Interesting that the trend is for landlords to sell up and invest elsewhere.
Will this mean property prices stagnate or start to drop, I wonder?

The property market seems to be stagnating here unless a property is in exactly the right location and priced reasonably.

PamelaJ1 Sat 13-Jul-24 07:52:09

They are selling here too nanna we sold ours and my sister sold hers this year.
Only small properties but nice and in a very good position for the town.
We bought them as investments and for security because we were living in tied accommodation at the time.
As has been mentioned it was a popular thing to do then but now we are all (those of us in that category anyway) now retiring and want/need the capital.
We did have one or two really good tenants but some were awful and we couldn’t be bothered anymore.

nanna8 Sat 13-Jul-24 07:48:35

Pouring money into super means selling your property for around $1,000,000- $2,000,000 and putting it into your superannuation fund. Lucky them. They will no doubt have a lovely comfortable retirement.Perhaps I should point out that I have never rented any property out , don’t own any extra houses except a shared family holiday house where I have less than a half share, nor do I intend to just in case someone feels like having a pop. As for tenant security, it is pretty secure over here, we don’t have many what you would call slums.

sassysaysso Sat 13-Jul-24 07:15:33

How many bought property to rent out after the 2008 banking crash because it gave a higher return than conventional risk free investment? Perhaps as interest rates improve, being a landlord is not so attractive. By selling rental properties, it will mean more properties for sale and prices will come down with a trickle down effect to help first time buyers. That's the theory anyway.

I do hope the new government introduce legislation to give tenants greater security. It's been many years since I rented but it was a great peace of mind to know I had security of tenure.

biglouis Sat 13-Jul-24 06:40:48

Landlords are selling up because the Labour government have also pledged to scrap section 21 of the housing act, which (in theory) makes it easy to evict tenants. In practice it is a lengthy and expensive process for the LL unless they have all their ducks in a row. One wrong piece of information or missed paperwork can scupper the entire process and very few non professional LLs get it right. The other route to eviction is section 8 (rent arrears or anti social behaviour) which is even more difficult to secure a possession order.

LLs are scared that Labour will introduce rent caps or even a rent freeze. They have had it far too easy for far too long and something needs to address the power balance.

I rented in the private section for many years and made it my business to inform myself of my rights. Knowledge is power.

Curtaintwitcher Sat 13-Jul-24 06:36:53

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Calendargirl Sat 13-Jul-24 06:20:07

I think ‘pouring their money into super instead’ means putting as much money as they can into their super-annuated pensions.

My DD in Oz is always on about their ‘super’ and how they will have to keep working until they are 70+.

It’s not that great down under either!

BlueBelle Sat 13-Jul-24 05:41:52

What does ‘pouring their money into super instead’ mean ?
I don’t think we are losing lots of rentals here (well I can only speak for my area) and it’s not been noticed
One of my grandaughters who has been travelling the East over a year with a period in Australia was telling me how expensive it is down there and how a lot of people are living in hostels as they can’t afford rentals Maybe that was just the area she was in I don’t know it just came up in conversation

nanna8 Sat 13-Jul-24 05:29:55

Here the most houses on the market just now are ex rentals. There are various reasons for this including
Costs of maintaining them, ever increasing
Difficulty with tenants
Difficulty with evictions of unsuitable tenants
Demonising of those with more than one property.
It is a worry because there is huge shortage of rentals already and what there is is now very, very expensive. People have chosen to invest in these properties but are now selling and pouring their money into super instead ( we don’t get pensions here from the government unless we are on a very low income, unlike the UK)
Are similar things happening there ?