Cost of living crisis.

[FoxesDeb]

14 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

As long as they give you plenty of notice under the terms of the lease, and it sounds like they gave you more than that - what is the issue?  It is their house no?

There could be lots of issues, not least that most renters typically don´t have savings. When you agree a rental you have to pay a hefty deposit which you often don´t get back for weeks after you move out. How do people find the money for a sizeable second deposit before they´ve received the first one back? People have families with children in schools, they might have elderly relatives nearby that rely on them, they might live on the bus route to their job, or have a fairly short commute, maybe they don´t drive and live within walking distance to the shops, doctors, work, their friends. These are all things you take in to account when renting a property.

 

If people are evicted and then can´t find another suitable and affordable property in the same area it can have a massive effect on a whole family for all or some of the reasons listed above, and probably more that I haven´t thought of. It´s not easy to just find something else nearby to where you currently live which you can afford.

 

Not suggesting these apply to @Torquay Gunner btw, just thinking of the time I rented in the UK.

 

Council housing enabled people to have a more stable long term home than the private rental market allows, and a stable home is key for every family´s wellbeing.

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

Not only are council houses more secure they are much, much more affordable. On my street the council houses are about 685 a month (mine is) and privately rented doing a quick search as I did when I moved in a few months ago, 1750 for near the exact same property.

[Foxdiamond]

2 minutes ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

Not only are council houses more secure they are much, much more affordable. On my street the council houses are about 685 a month (mine is) and privately rented doing a quick search as I did when I moved in a few months ago, 1750 for near the exact same property.

I would guess some people begrudge the thought that council rents are affordable. Missing the point that the well being of our neighbours is vital for the country. The pandemic proved a lot of people do worthwhile jobs that don't pay well .for example Care Workers.  Just think while someone is earning a good wage someone else is looking after their elderly parents and so on.

[ozleicester]

52 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

There could be lots of issues, not least that most renters typically don´t have savings. When you agree a rental you have to pay a hefty deposit which you often don´t get back for weeks after you move out. How do people find the money for a sizeable second deposit before they´ve received the first one back? People have families with children in schools, they might have elderly relatives nearby that rely on them, they might live on the bus route to their job, or have a fairly short commute, maybe they don´t drive and live within walking distance to the shops, doctors, work, their friends. These are all things you take in to account when renting a property.

 

If people are evicted and then can´t find another suitable and affordable property in the same area it can have a massive effect on a whole family for all or some of the reasons listed above, and probably more that I haven´t thought of. It´s not easy to just find something else nearby to where you currently live which you can afford.

 

Not suggesting these apply to @Torquay Gunner btw, just thinking of the time I rented in the UK.

 

Council housing enabled people to have a more stable long term home than the private rental market allows, and a stable home is key for every family´s wellbeing.

.

Edited 5 December 2023 by ozleicester

[dsr-burnley]

1 hour ago, FoxesDeb said:

There could be lots of issues, not least that most renters typically don´t have savings. When you agree a rental you have to pay a hefty deposit which you often don´t get back for weeks after you move out. How do people find the money for a sizeable second deposit before they´ve received the first one back? People have families with children in schools, they might have elderly relatives nearby that rely on them, they might live on the bus route to their job, or have a fairly short commute, maybe they don´t drive and live within walking distance to the shops, doctors, work, their friends. These are all things you take in to account when renting a property.

 

If people are evicted and then can´t find another suitable and affordable property in the same area it can have a massive effect on a whole family for all or some of the reasons listed above, and probably more that I haven´t thought of. It´s not easy to just find something else nearby to where you currently live which you can afford.

 

Not suggesting these apply to @Torquay Gunner btw, just thinking of the time I rented in the UK.

 

Council housing enabled people to have a more stable long term home than the private rental market allows, and a stable home is key for every family´s wellbeing.

There's room for both.  Council housing is certainly stable - if you have a council house, you are stuck there.  There is no point trying to move and get a council house in another area, because people from other areas who already have a house will certainly be bottom of the list.  So you can't move to a new job, or be be nearer parents or children, or just because you fancy a change, if council housing is the only option.  Private renting is more versatile.

[dsr-burnley]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

In Owen Jones book the Establishment, it was researched that 60% of MPs were landlords (or at every least a second home). 

They would do.  One in the constituency and one in London.  (They get generous payments to help them buy the second home, but that's another issue.)

 

Many MPs also have a third home, their original family home, which they rent out.  

 

No doubt there are some who rent property on a purely commercial basis too, but it won't be 60% I suspect.

[Foxdiamond]

12 minutes ago, dsr-burnley said:

There's room for both.  Council housing is certainly stable - if you have a council house, you are stuck there.  There is no point trying to move and get a council house in another area, because people from other areas who already have a house will certainly be bottom of the list.  So you can't move to a new job, or be be nearer parents or children, or just because you fancy a change, if council housing is the only option.  Private renting is more versatile.

I think there are many who would be only too happy to be "stuck" in a council house in the current housing crisis

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

There are swap programmes I’ve swapped twice in the last 2 years from a very small house in a rubbish area to a very small house in a sought after area to a very big house in a middling area. I want to be stuck here now because my house is big and affordable, but i am not stuck here I could swap all over the country with someone who wants to swap with me.

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, dsr-burnley said:

They would do.  One in the constituency and one in London.  (They get generous payments to help them buy the second home, but that's another issue.)

 

Many MPs also have a third home, their original family home, which they rent out.  

 

No doubt there are some who rent property on a purely commercial basis too, but it won't be 60% I suspect.

https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/87-mps-are-now-landlords-including-chancellor-reveals-campaign-group

 

87 MPs currently act as landlords, claiming income. Hunt has seven flats in Southampton. 

 

Down from 115 in 2021. 

[Paninistickers]

4 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

In Owen Jones (before he become a gobshite) book the Establishment, it was researched that 60% of MPs were landlords (or at every least a second home). 
 

That’s the self interest you have at the centre of parliament 

This may sound incredibly naive, but I honestly think that an easy 90% of MPs - of all colours - are driven primarily by a duty of public service. 

 

Clearly there is ego and ambition too, as in any career. But I'm doubtful that when passing law, MPs votes  are cast on the basis of personal gain. 

 

Edit to the laughing emoji reaction...at my own job, there are easily several ways I could take a backhander / kickback to recommend a supplier etc....but I don't do it as I'm kinda being paid to do a job and a backhander would mean I'm not quite as impartial when helping out with a recommendation. I'm sure most MPs are the same. 

Edited 5 December 2023 by Paninistickers

[Bordersfox]

1 hour ago, Paninistickers said:

This may sound incredibly naive, but I honestly think that an easy 90% of MPs - of all colours - are driven primarily by a duty of public service. 

 

Clearly there is ego and ambition too, as in any career. But I'm doubtful that when passing law, MPs votes  are cast on the basis of personal gain. 

 

Edit to the laughing emoji reaction...at my own job, there are easily several ways I could take a backhander / kickback to recommend a supplier etc....but I don't do it as I'm kinda being paid to do a job and a backhander would mean I'm not quite as impartial when helping out with a recommendation. I'm sure most MPs are the same. 

Perhaps thirty years ago but with the current crop I'd be amazed if it was anywhere near as high as 90%

[FoxesDeb]

5 hours ago, dsr-burnley said:

There's room for both.  Council housing is certainly stable - if you have a council house, you are stuck there.  There is no point trying to move and get a council house in another area, because people from other areas who already have a house will certainly be bottom of the list.  So you can't move to a new job, or be be nearer parents or children, or just because you fancy a change, if council housing is the only option.  Private renting is more versatile.

Private renting is only more versatile if you can afford to move though, my point about the deposit makes moving very difficult for private tenants.  Council house exchanges are a possibility for council tenants, although I have no experience of how easy or difficult they are, they do exist. If you can´t afford a second deposit or the higher private rental costs you can´t afford to move anyway, so you´d still be better off ´stuck´ in a much cheaper council property.

 

Billions of pounds are spent by the government in the UK every year in housing benefit payments, it would be interesting to know how much of this is paying the mortgages of houses owned by landlords in the private rental sector.

[Lionator]

Let's be honest the rental sector should be better regulated. Does anybody really need a portfolio of 10+ properties? There was a news clip the other week of a landlord serving a section 21 notice to a family where the youngest child had severe learning disabilities, they had nowhere to go apart from a bedsit. The landlord's response, in front of the family, was that the property wasn't making her as much profit anymore and that she had to think of her finances. Just atrocious levels of selfishness. 

 

Anyone who knows the sector knows what a mess it is currently. Notts council are currently kicking out asylum seekers out of hotels (to where excactly) to house families in those hotel rooms because they have no more temporary accommodation. Leicester is about a month behind. Thousands of kids are being made homeless every month. The city centre streets are piling up with tents and rough sleepers. 

[Daggers]

60% increase in demand across the last 12 months - and you still get twats questioning how much they earn by being homeless or suggesting they own houses 🙄

 

 

[grobyfox1990]

1 hour ago, Lionator said:

Let's be honest the rental sector should be better regulated. Does anybody really need a portfolio of 10+ properties? There was a news clip the other week of a landlord serving a section 21 notice to a family where the youngest child had severe learning disabilities, they had nowhere to go apart from a bedsit. The landlord's response, in front of the family, was that the property wasn't making her as much profit anymore and that she had to think of her finances. Just atrocious levels of selfishness. 

 

Anyone who knows the sector knows what a mess it is currently. Notts council are currently kicking out asylum seekers out of hotels (to where excactly) to house families in those hotel rooms because they have no more temporary accommodation. Leicester is about a month behind. Thousands of kids are being made homeless every month. The city centre streets are piling up with tents and rough sleepers. 

On the portfolio point, I think ‘mom and pop’ landlords are a million times better than funds/companies/asset class holders owning property. Would rather a retail investor with 15 properties than bnp Paribas with a portfolio of 10,000 as a landlord 

Unfortunately this is the uk where we have no morals, sense of community and people are numbers on a balance sheet rather than actual people. 

[Paninistickers]

53 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

bnp Paribas with a portfolio of 10,000

Agree. Thing is, our pensions our invested with these monstrous corporations. 

 

Bit like I moan that stuff like water isn't nationalised or that french government backed EDF own our fckin electricity....yet I'd imagine my pension fund is doped to the eyeballs in these money making machines 

[FoxyPV]

2 hours ago, Lionator said:

Let's be honest the rental sector should be better regulated. Does anybody really need a portfolio of 10+ properties? There was a news clip the other week of a landlord serving a section 21 notice to a family where the youngest child had severe learning disabilities, they had nowhere to go apart from a bedsit. The landlord's response, in front of the family, was that the property wasn't making her as much profit anymore and that she had to think of her finances. Just atrocious levels of selfishness. 

 

Anyone who knows the sector knows what a mess it is currently. Notts council are currently kicking out asylum seekers out of hotels (to where excactly) to house families in those hotel rooms because they have no more temporary accommodation. Leicester is about a month behind. Thousands of kids are being made homeless every month. The city centre streets are piling up with tents and rough sleepers. 

*Mao enters the chat*

[grobyfox1990]

10 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

Agree. Thing is, our pensions our invested with these monstrous corporations. 

 

Bit like I moan that stuff like water isn't nationalised or that french government backed EDF own our fckin electricity....yet I'd imagine my pension fund is doped to the eyeballs in these money making machines 

Yep and that’s an existential point tbf. Should our pensions be directly invested in British infrastructure and assets, rather than via foreign corp who we pay a fee to, to own it all? Before anyone says ‘the private sector do it better tho’ pls look at Thames water. 
Our pensions should be funding HS2, railways, utilities, infrastructure projects, risky British start ups that could become unicorns, you name it. They’re our assets, we should own and profit from them 

[Torquay Gunner]

13 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

As long as they give you plenty of notice under the terms of the lease, and it sounds like they gave you more than that - what is the issue?  It is their house no?

Yeah, I think foxesdeb has summed it up very well.  Appreciate the empathy though. 

[Jon the Hat]

1 hour ago, Torquay Gunner said:

Yeah, I think foxesdeb has summed it up very well.  Appreciate the empathy though. 

I fully appreciate it is a pain in the arse, but as you say you are in a position to move.  We are also renting at the moment, and hope not to have to move for a few years.  7 though is a pretty good run I would say!

[Sly]

13 hours ago, Lionator said:

Let's be honest the rental sector should be better regulated. Does anybody really need a portfolio of 10+ properties? There was a news clip the other week of a landlord serving a section 21 notice to a family where the youngest child had severe learning disabilities, they had nowhere to go apart from a bedsit. The landlord's response, in front of the family, was that the property wasn't making her as much profit anymore and that she had to think of her finances. Just atrocious levels of selfishness. 

 

Anyone who knows the sector knows what a mess it is currently. Notts council are currently kicking out asylum seekers out of hotels (to where excactly) to house families in those hotel rooms because they have no more temporary accommodation. Leicester is about a month behind. Thousands of kids are being made homeless every month. The city centre streets are piling up with tents and rough sleepers. 

It’s a business like any other. I purchased additional properties years ago, however until the stakeholder pension kicked in, I didn’t have a pension. When I choose to retire, they’ll still give me a steady source of income. 
 

Eventually though, I’ll pass a few to our children, as buying a house for them is going to be a nightmare. 

[Sly]

Whilst we are on the homeless / sleeping outside idea. I see the latest figures are over 3,000 people across England. That does feel a little low to me, however isn’t the solution just to invest and build a massive homeless shelter in every city? 
 

 

[westernpark]

22 minutes ago, Sly said:

Whilst we are on the homeless / sleeping outside idea. I see the latest figures are over 3,000 people across England. That does feel a little low to me, however isn’t the solution just to invest and build a massive homeless shelter in every city? 
 

 

That’s not a solution but a treatment of the symptoms of being homeless, they would still be homeless. But you’re right there needs to be more shelters built.

[Sly]

4 minutes ago, westernpark said:

That’s not a solution but a treatment of the symptoms of being homeless, they would still be homeless. But you’re right there needs to be more shelters built.

Fair point, as you are 100% correct that It doesn’t tackle the root cause of the issue. 
 

I guess the energy needs to be point into understanding why they are homeless. I’d hazard a guess they’re not all monetary related though, so it needs a system and support for various situations. 

[Lionator]

2 hours ago, Sly said:

It’s a business like any other. I purchased additional properties years ago, however until the stakeholder pension kicked in, I didn’t have a pension. When I choose to retire, they’ll still give me a steady source of income. 
 

Eventually though, I’ll pass a few to our children, as buying a house for them is going to be a nightmare. 

I don't begrudge you personally, but can you not see how the benefit that you receive from those houses puts a few others at a disadvantage? I'm trying for a house at the moment with my partner and we don't have a family member who can pass on houses or even money for a deposit. A council house waitlist is insane, so it'll probably be renting until we can save some more, except we can't save because the cost of living is so high. And it's this constant cycle of people who have assets and those who don't which perpetuates a two tier society. Again, I'm not judging you personally, it's tricky because I'd do the same in your circumstance, but it's exactly how living standards continue to decline.