Renters rights

Buying property to rent out certainly isn’t a ‘get rich quick’ scheme.
Although there have been some years of rapid growth, it’s necessary to see it as a long term investment for some point in the future, to provide an income in retirement for instance.

JenniferEccles

Buying property to rent out certainly isn’t a ‘get rich quick’ scheme.
Although there have been some years of rapid growth, it’s necessary to see it as a long term investment for some point in the future, to provide an income in retirement for instance.

It also provides an asset ie. wealth.

I wouldn’t rent a property out, too many horror stories. I have friends who did and they say it is very,very difficult to get rid of bad tenants who trash their houses. All the rules are supporting the renters. In the end they had to sell the property to get them out. At this stage that is allowed but who knows what could happen in the future ?

I'm glad my landlord didn't read your comment nanna8. I've lived in the same rented house for 10 years and he's never had any grounds for accusing me of trashing it. However, he would have been pushed to earn about £100,000 over the 10 years anywhere else.

growstuff

JenniferEccles

Buying property to rent out certainly isn’t a ‘get rich quick’ scheme.
Although there have been some years of rapid growth, it’s necessary to see it as a long term investment for some point in the future, to provide an income in retirement for instance.

It also provides an asset ie. wealth.

It only really becomes wealth when you sell it, whereupon you are charged quite heavily for any profit you have made. To buy that asset you pay more for stamp duty than anybody else buying property. It is hardly a get rich quick scheme.

icanhandthemback

growstuff

JenniferEccles

Buying property to rent out certainly isn’t a ‘get rich quick’ scheme.
Although there have been some years of rapid growth, it’s necessary to see it as a long term investment for some point in the future, to provide an income in retirement for instance.

It also provides an asset ie. wealth.

It only really becomes wealth when you sell it, whereupon you are charged quite heavily for any profit you have made. To buy that asset you pay more for stamp duty than anybody else buying property. It is hardly a get rich quick scheme.

I didn't claim it's a "get rich quick" scheme. However, property is an asset and assets can be used to provide income without having to do traditional work.

It might not be "traditional" work but renting out a property is very time consuming!

icanhandthemback

Maybe the Council can stop telling tenants that they should stay until the eviction notice or they will make themselves homeless where there are good reasons for the recovery of the house. Personally, I think that is immoral.

I completely agree, it’s not good for the landlord and even worse for the tenants.

Those who have HMOs, for private letting to students or others, can make very handsome profits very easily.

When my daughter went to Brighton Uni she didn’t make it into halls, she was directed by the Uni to go to some particular estate agents and her first room in a rented house was truly quite awful! A semi detached house, with every room, bar the kitchen and tiny adjoining conservatory (meant to be used as a living area, not big enough for a table to eat at and two pretty shabby sofas) so two people staying downstairs and three upstairs, each paying £500 per month plus all bills.

This was a bus journey away from Uni and damp and was at least 6 years ago.

We are able to rent out our family home as my DH's has a job with tied accommodation. We will have to return to the family home at some point.

Our latest tenants have left recently. Because of the state that they left it in we are having to pay out several thousands of pounds in repairs. Their deposit will cover hardly any of it.

We are not greedy landlords and were charging well under the going rate.

It was so upsetting to see our family home so uncared for.

We have been renters in the past due to my DH's job. We always left the house in a better state than we found it. I suppose people have different standards when it comes to cleanliness etc.

I am so worried about our what our next tenants will turn out like. We use an agent so hopefully we will get someone decent. We used an agent last time though. They said they did inspections but the tenants made an effort to clean and tidy before the agent arrived.

I also agree that it should be up to the landlord to decide if he wants pets or not.

At the moment things seem unfairly favoured towards the tenants. Most landlords don't have a property empire but the bad landlords are making it harder for the decent ones.

Very different rules re selling here. Tenants have to be given a few weeks notice and then they have to leave. Many , probably most, leave very quickly.

fluttERBY123

Does anyone have an answer to this?Let's assume:-
There are x number of homes in the country. Some are owner occupied and some are rented. All are occupied. Big panic and the landlords sell up. Who to? If so who moves in? Someone who was previously renting? Renters have nowhere to rent? First time buyers can't afford a mortgage? My question is what happens to the homes renters sell and who do they sell to?¹

They get market value for them when they sell to renters, and as speculators, landlords know that just as markets can push up prices and make landlords a fortune, they can also make prices fall and lose them money. The chances are that house prices will fall for a while if the market is flooded as the rental/owner occupier balance shifts. On the whole, though, unless someone has only recently invested in property they will still be sitting on a profit, even if it's not as high as they'd come to expect.

Meanwhile, renters get a chance to buy a home more cheaply than before, and remaining landlords have to lower the rents to attract new tenants. They (landlords) will still make on the deal as property almost always rises in value over time, but they might lose the double bonus that they've been used to - that of high rents paying the mortgage with some left over as well as the appreciation in value when they come to sell.

So, win win, really.

The problem for landlords is that it’s not all profit, you may get good tenants and the place does not need redecorating between tenants, or long term tenants who pay the rent on time, very often you don’t!.
Then you pay income tax on the rent and CGT on the sale of the property, in between you have any mortgage you have on the property and agents fees. With short term tenants agents fees are significant, never let to friends, they are the ones that are going to trash the place.

Been there, done that, it really is not worth the hassle. If you are willing to be a tough professional with a dozen or more properties you might make money.

Hopefully housing associations will buy some to help the housing crisis. Starmer may put a time limit on selling empty properties and compulsory purchase you never know......

If renting is so full of pitfalls, why do people do it?

sazz1

Hopefully housing associations will buy some to help the housing crisis. Starmer may put a time limit on selling empty properties and compulsory purchase you never know......

In April this year a time limit was issued on selling empty properties. Is called the empty property premium and means that if a property is left empty for longer than a year the owner must pay at least double the council tax each month, rising to treble the council tax if longer than 2 years.
Talking to an estate agent whilst looking for a property in Brighton he said that the reason we could see so many rental properties for sale on rightmove was because small landlords are getting out before they are penalised even more.
Some are assured tenancies being sold as a going concern but interest in these is at an all time low. And some are being sold to be converted back into a private dwelling.
Either way this is a really bad time for small time private landlords, and tenants who are seeing an ever dwindling stock of rental properties.
If Rayner wants to provide more affordable housing she should be making it easier for small time landlords as well as the tenants.

David49

The problem for landlords is that it’s not all profit, you may get good tenants and the place does not need redecorating between tenants, or long term tenants who pay the rent on time, very often you don’t!.
Then you pay income tax on the rent and CGT on the sale of the property, in between you have any mortgage you have on the property and agents fees. With short term tenants agents fees are significant, never let to friends, they are the ones that are going to trash the place.

Been there, done that, it really is not worth the hassle. If you are willing to be a tough professional with a dozen or more properties you might make money.

And they do! My ex-husband has about ten properties and hasn't had to work for 25 years. To be fair to him, he's also a surveyor and I've heard that he's considered a good landlord. Ironically, my son now works for a housing charity - poacher turned gamekeeper perhaps.

sazz1

Hopefully housing associations will buy some to help the housing crisis. Starmer may put a time limit on selling empty properties and compulsory purchase you never know......

I think (know) that's the plan. I expect the government to make it easier to borrow money to do that/direct savings money in that direction.

Jaxjacky

If renting is so full of pitfalls, why do people do it?

Because they dont look at the costs and taxation they think it’s easy money, it ain’t!.

David49

Jaxjacky

If renting is so full of pitfalls, why do people do it?

Because they dont look at the costs and taxation they think it’s easy money, it ain’t!.

They're the landlords who grumble about paying out for anything and don't accept that there will be fair wear and tear.

Landlords should find out how much they're going to have to pay for insurance and safety checks etc and factor that into their profits. They're unlikely to make much more than 5-7%pa.

They also need to set aside 15% of the gross rent for maintenance and replacements. I've lived in my rented house for over 10 years and the landlord knows that the whole house will need to be refurbished when I leave, if he wants to get a good tenant in the future. That's not a problem because I know that he's set aside money and there's about £15,000 available. It's also why he would prefer that I stay - because he knows I manage minor repairs myself.

The bad landlords are the ones who think it's a "get rich quick" scheme and are just interested in collecting as much rent as possible. They're also the ones most likely to complain that their tenants have trashed the place because they expect the property to be in the same state it was at the beginning of the tenancy, even though there will always be fair wear and tear.

Jaxjacky

If renting is so full of pitfalls, why do people do it?

Hope over reality. Having said that, the vast majority of tenants are good people.

The reason someone chooses to rent out a property that they own are many and various, not all landlords are investment landlords.

A number of properties around us have been let because the sale property market has been slow this year so owners have decided to let a house rather than leave it empty. This often applies to executor sales. 30 years ago I bought a house with my son, then a student. When he moved on house prices were rising fast out of a slump so I bought his share out and rented the property out for a few years until the market slowed down. and then I sold it.

During the 5 years I rented out the flat I maintained, what was a newly refurbished property meticulously. With the exception of some domestically clueless Irish lads. I had excellent tenants and my last tenant found me my buyer. Someone renting in the block, who wanted to buy a flat in the building.

The problem is that everyone talks about the nightmare tenants and nightmare landlords, but good landlords and good tenanants, which are by far the majority, are just taken for granted and never discussed. It is the same in every aspect of life. The story of nightmare holidays, train or plane journeys, the car that was always breaking down. We talk about them but not when everything works.

petra

Jaxjacky

If renting is so full of pitfalls, why do people do it?

Hope over reality. Having said that, the vast majority of tenants are good people.

Thank you for writing that. Yes, we are.

I agree with you MOnica. In the years I've been a tenant, I've been in contact with a number of other tenants in this area. I live in a row of four terraced houses and three of us are tenants. I know all the landlords personally. None of us have any complaints - both tenants and landlords. A couple of years ago, storms damaged all our fences, so every was in contact with each other and a single contractor found to replace the lot.

“They're the landlords who grumble about paying out for anything and don't accept that there will be fair wear and tear.”

Fair wear and tear isn’t a problem a good clean touch up here and there, that’s fair after a few years, some tenants can trash the place after 6 months, you give them notice and they don’t pay anything for the 6 months it takes to get them out.